Zulfa al-Sa'di (1905–1988) was a Palestinian visual artist born in Jerusalem to a family of Sufis. She was a student of Nicolas Saig (1863–1942) from whom she must have learned how to use photographs that chronicled historical events or publicised political figures to develop her paintings. In particular, al-Sa'di was interested in an allegorical use that emphasized symbolic meanings about national Palestinian identity.[1] al-Sa'di lived and worked in Jerusalem until 1948, when she was forced to move to Damascus. There, she taught art to Palestinian refugee children.[2]
In 1933, at age 23, she participated in The Arab Exhibition in Mandate Jerusalem.[3] There, she exhibited portraits of eminent men in the Arab world of her time, including Sharif Husayn, King Faysal I of Iraq, and Egyptian poet Ahmad Shawqi.[4]