Ahmed AbdulRetha Al Saleh.. Kuwaiti artist of merit 1950-1999
By Lidia Qattan

The news of his death came through as a shock to all of us. Such a sudden loss makes one ponder on the fact of life which we take for granted; for rarely we pose to think that our turn might come at any instant. We dream and hope and plan for the next day, the next month the next year and struggle to achieve our goal. Such is human life as we want to live it, or must; for the thought of imminent death would cripple the very zest to live. We are all travelers in time. Today we are here and do what we must do while dreaming of tomorrow, half conscious of those under-under-currents which are flowing in the deeper tracts of our consciousness; and when they come to the surface they influence our transcending thoughts, often verging on religion . Apparently each of us is meant to fulfill a purpose; for each of us is born with specific potentials. Those most endowed are destined to leave a legacy for which they will be remembered .Others less fortunate are born and die leaving no lasting trace of their passage, like atoms in the great flow of events in a perpetual motion of transformation from one dimension into another . Ahmed AbdulRetha Al Saleh was an artist of merit though his life has been short his legacy will linger on and he will be remembered; for the works he left behind, those impregnated of his feelings, thoughts and emotions as he consciously strove to communicate, have a direct appeal on the sympathetic comprehension of the beholder . Such is the purpose the artist must fulfil; for the importance of his art is to nurture the sensibility of people making them more keenly involved in the tide of life. Great arts is the spearhead of some of the highest aspirations of human life; this we realize in reading the works of great writers and poets or listening to the symphony of great composers or grasping the symbolic values of a painting or sculpture that expands our inner being with vision and feelings by which we see the world around us in a new light. Ahmed AbdulRetha Al Saleh was born in Kuwait in 1950 in the very decade during which major developments were taking place and were transforming not only the physical aspect of his country but also the life-style and spirit of his people . In such an atmosphere Ahmed grew up absorbing the old Kuwaiti spirit still unmarred by the change. Incidentally this early influence is to be traced in some of his most inspiring works of the eighties, by which he was beginning to gain recognition in Kuwait and abroad. The fifties , sixties and seventies , the time of his growing up , were decades of dynamic growth and innovations in Kuwait , followed by two decades of comparative stagnation. For a sensitive soul as that of an artist each period left its mark on his mental outlook, the result of which can be easily discerned in some of the works. The "WINDOW" is a good example Ahmed AbdulRetha began his artistic career when he was still a student. His first creations were collage. One of his works exhibited in the seventies still lingers vividly in my mind. It was an exquisite composition depicting a reclining boy. By using clips of automobile and engine parts the artist created a biological unit, a symmetric
reality quite pleasant to behold From collage Ahmed turned to conventional painting in which he verges on surrealism and symbolism . Although the technique differ the style is the same, hence its originality and power. Ahmed AbdulRetha was an artist of original creative power, whose choice of the collage displays strenuous and indefatigable artistry He probably turned to oil colors to give free rein to his wide imagination. The great asset of any artist is "Imagination" and the way he uses it to communicate his thoughts feelings and intuitions in probing into the nature of things and events in his surroundings. But imagination is a dynamic entity that constantly seeks synthesis the warrant of which is emotional reaction; hence, though loving to work with collage Ahmed felt he had to try a more liberal technique. Ahmed made his debut in art with a collage that gained him a prize at the collective art exhibition held in 1978 sponsored by the Teacher's Institute , from which he graduated as a teacher in 1979. At about the same time he became a member of the Kuwait Plastic Arts Society , to which he was elected member of the Executive Board in 1979 and was re-elected ever since . Subsequently he became a member of the World-Union of Artist at Paris. Through the years he has been taking part in all the Kuwait Arts Society's exhibitions from which he won three golden medals. Abroad he exhibited in the Kuwaiti collective exhibitions held in Libya, in Saudi Arabia, in Oman, in Spain and in the old -time Yugoslavia. During the Monte-Carlo competition he won a prize with honor certificate. . As mentioned the Eighties were a decade of stagnation and decline to which the artist responded with a symbolism that inspired hope and nostalgia. Two good examples are "The Window "and "I'll be Back One Day". Both paintings verge on surrealism. In the later, depicted in mood soft and peaceful, is an idyllic image of a cherished memory of early childhood, when the Kuwaiti spirit, noble and heroic in its frugality, still shone untarnished by the affluence of modern living. In the WINDOW one discerns the drama of transition and it effects on the human soul, depicted with the force of an integrated experience of life whose direct statement engages our attention. The art of Ahmed AbdulRetha , whether in the form of collage or in oil painting , has a charm and a portent of its own . The sudden loss of the artist is very saddening.