The term Old Masters conjures up an image of a very specific figure – one that is male and European.
There are the Italians: Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, Leonardo.
There are the Dutch: van Eyck, Bosch, Durer, Bruegel; and a handful of French, English and Spanish painters, too. And the people who coined the term were themselves male and European. Much of art history skews to the West, even in places outside these confines.
Old Master evokes notions of exclusion based on gender and ethnic profiling
For years, the notion of Old Masters has been criticised by art historians, curators and art enthusiasts, citing its sexist and racial overtones. It is also limiting, as most of the artists on this list are painters working between the Renaissance and 1800.
Yet our recognition and acceptance of this label is ingrained through schools, museums, the media and even the art market. Auction houses, for example, are quick to jump on the phrase Old Masters as a marketing tool for their lots.
“The subject of how we name and identify great works of art is a prickly and complex one,” says Maya Allison, founding director of New York University Abu Dhabi’s art gallery and the university’s chief curator. “The term is symptomatic of a larger question of how we identify ‘canonical’ works and the idea of ‘the canon’, in which there is a single group of Old Masters with one particular perspective on the world.”
Reindert Falkenburg, an art historian and professor at NYU Abu Dhabi, says he does not use the term or adhere to the concept. However, he says he does acknowledge the debate around it.
“Old Master evokes notions of exclusion, such as exclusion based on gender and ethnic profiling. It is entirely understandable, therefore, that the term, in this regard, is critically being debated now.”
So what should we do with a phrase like that? To start with, questioning such a term can unravel so much of what we have been taught and conditioned to revere when it comes to art and culture. But analysing it is only a small step.
In 1971, American art historian Linda Nochlin wrote an essay titled Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?, in which she holds institutional forces up as culpable for the historical hindering of female artists' professional success.
“There are no women equivalents for Michelangelo or Rembrandt, Delacroix or Cezanne, Picasso or Matisse … any more than there are black American equivalents for the same,” she says.
“Things as they are and as they have been, in the arts as in a hundred other areas, are stultifying, oppressive and discouraging to all those, women among them, who did not have the good fortune to be born white, preferably middle class and, above all, male. The fault lies not in our stars, our hormones, our menstrual cycles or our empty internal spaces, but in our institutions and our education,” she wrote.
For Nochlin, historically, it wasn’t that women lacked the talent or creativity to gain recognition, but rather that they have been excluded from art education and discourse because of larger societal and patriarchal forces.
The erasure of female narratives in history is, sadly, nothing new. Many female artists from the same period as the Old Masters, though garnering praise during their time, were disregarded after their deaths. Their works were also misattributed to their male counterparts.
Museums have tried to address this centuries-old discrepancy with exhibitions dedicated to forgotten female Old Masters and Old Mistresses. These women include Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, Lavinia Fontana and Sofonisba Anguissola – the last two were the focus of an exhibition at Madrid's Museo del Prado, which ended in February.
These measures help correct some of the ignorance and injustices of the past, but how long can we keep making up for bad history? Continued acknowledgement of these artists does have value, particularly from a western art history perspective, but we should focus our efforts on the wider question of what we have been taught to value in art and why.
Create a new term, or is that not enough?
To go back to the debate around the term Old Masters – is it necessary to replace it entirely?
“I would definitely recommend a new term. One that captures the cultural frame, and the time period, that feels contextualised and thus relative instead of absolute,” says Allison.
The term Old Masters is just a symptom of violent historical erasure. Its revision won't be a cure
She is right. There is an immovable, definitive quality to the word “master” that leaves little room for critical thought. It also implies a certain standard of artistic work that must be adhered to, an idea that artists have constantly defied.
But it does seem uncertain to me that a new term would do away with the issue of exclusion in art education and the art world altogether. Unfortunately, many museums have simply acted as gatekeepers of patriarchal, racist and colonial legacies.
A newly minted phrase won’t do much to change that.
Today, female artists and artists of colour continue to be overlooked by institutions. This practice mirrors much of what takes place in society, which still favours those who are white and male.
Think of the toppling of statues and monuments in the UK and US in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. The painful truth behind these figures – colonisers, slave traders, oppressors – and the fact they remained standing for so long, reveals how much of history has been whitewashed and mythologised.
It is a gaping failure in our education, and it happens in both the West and the East.
Until we recognise how our histories, including art history, have been altered to serve a specific segment of the population, then the stories of women, minorities and the poor will continue to be forgotten. Institutions and educational systems must diversify the narratives they teach us and then compel us to pick apart what we have learnt.
The term Old Masters is merely a symptom of violent historical erasure.
Its revision won’t be the cure.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Command%20Z
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
