Baron Kurt Bergstrom and Princess Fahda 1979

Abdul Mati Klarwein made this oil painting titled 'Baron Kurt Bergstrom and Princess Fahda'. It’s a complex portrait that plays with ideas of identity, wealth, and international connections. Klarwein, who worked in the late 20th century, had a surreal and psychedelic style, mixing cultural references and often depicting wealthy or famous subjects. Here, the fragmentation of the composition reflects a world where identity is fluid and constructed through images. The figures are Baron Kurt Bergstrom and Princess Fahda, suggesting a union of European aristocracy and Saudi royalty, a potent symbol of globalized wealth and power. The setting, architectural and somewhat unreal, might allude to the constructed nature of these social positions. As art historians, we consider how this image creates meaning through its visual codes, what its existence says about the social structures of its time, and whether it critiques or reinforces those structures. Researching the backgrounds of the sitters and the artist’s other works, we can understand better how art embodies and comments on its social context.