Commanding considerable renown in the United Arab Emirates, Abdul Qader Al Rais explores the landscapes and traditions of his homeland. A self-taught artist, Al Rais’ primary form of expression is painting and his influences are largely from Dutch Masters and French Impressionists. His early works were realistic renderings of landscapes, traditional Emirati architecture, dhow fishing boats and coastlines but Al Rais stopped painting in 1974 until he graduated from Emirates University in 1982. More political themes permeated his work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly in relation to Palestinian struggles. He later shifted his approach to a mixture of abstraction and calligraphy, focusing on the contours of Arabic letters, which are now regarded as his signature style. A retrospective of Rais' work was held at the Sharjah Art Museum in 2012 and some pieces also featured in the UAE Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.