Nahmad Projects presents Painting in the Round, an exhibition which challenges how we perceive and engage with paintings, inviting viewers to explore both the front and back of each artwork. Traditionally, paintings are seen as singular images, framed and presented to reveal only their intended subject. This exhibition, however, unveils the unseen—the physical and historical traces on the reverse of the canvas that offer deeper insight into an artwork’s journey.

Featuring a diverse selection of works spanning different periods and styles, Painting in the Round sheds light on the hidden lives of paintings. The backs of these works—often covered in annotations, labels, signatures and other inscriptions—tell stories of ownership and artistic process. Some reveal sketches or unfinished compositions, while others bear the marks of time and movement through collectors’ hands and museum storerooms.

The exhibition demonstrates how a painting is not just an image but an object with a history embedded in its very structure. Through this dual perspective, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider the nature of artistic value, authenticity, and materiality. By placing equal importance on the visible and the concealed, offering a richer, more complete understanding of the art we so often take at face value.

Painting in the Round features works by Alberto Burri, Georges Braque, Lucio Fontana, Juan Gris, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Giorgio Morandi, Joan Miró, Ben Nicholson, Pablo Picasso, Alexis Ralaivao, and Francesco Vezzoli.