doha - Lux Magazine

Features

A conversation with Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar photographed for the Winter 2025/26 issue of LUX by Ben Cope

Two years ago, French-Iranian artist Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar moved from the south of France to Qatar, to the bemusement of many. Now, he finds himself one of the spearheads of a developing art scene turbocharged by the arrival of Art Basel Qatar this winter, and framed by a programme of museum openings to rival any in the world

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar is an enigma of a contemporary artist. Born in the teens, he subsequently lived in the UAE and London, building his practice and gaining business qualifications before settling in Cap-Ferrat, in the south of France. Over the past years, with his studio in this wealthy residential peninsula, he gained a roster of international collectors, as well as shows in London, Germany, and Monaco. Then, in 2023, he abruptly moved his practice and his family to Doha, Qatar. His gallerist, Setareh, meanwhile, is based in Berlin, Düsseldorf and London. Behnam-Bakhtiar will be having a solo show at Setareh London opening end of May 2026.

Behnam-Bakhtiar’s move to Cap-Ferrat in 2010 presaged what would become today’s contemporary art and collector revival in the stretch from Cannes, through Cap-Ferrat itself, to Monaco. Not long after he moved to Doha, it appeared he had again predicted the flow of the global contemporary art ecosystem, when it was dramatically announced that his new home would host a new Art Basel fair — Art Basel Qatar — in February 2026.

A portrait of the artist in his Doha studio, photographed by Ben Cope

His practice, with its slurred abstract mixed-media oeuvres — light and joyous on the surface but hinting at either darkness or a different kind of tension underneath — has evolved even during his short time in Doha. His works seem more focused, more technical. His persona, at once thoughtful, combative, and soulful, remains as it always was: he can be as charming as anyone in his family (his great-uncle was, famously, the last prime minister appointed by the Shah of Iran), as hermetic as any artist (as he explains in our interview below), and as efficient as a business leader.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Behnam-Bakhtiar speaks openly about his personal traumas. He is not an easy person — but then, what real artist is? And his art is good enough for me to have bought (at full price), and it has developed since. We are looking forward to seeing how this unique mid-career artist develops with the burgeoning art scene in Qatar.

Darius Sanai

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar’s Doha studio, showcasing the oils he uses to create his signature style of peinture raclée

Angeliki Kim Perfetti: So, Sassan, why Doha?

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar: Simple. It was a real coup de cœur for us. I decided to choose Doha and Qatar as a second home — which has become our first home for the time being, as my son goes to school here now. Many of my collectors in Europe, the UK, and the States didn’t get it: “From Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat to Doha!” And I’m like, “No, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Doha.”

I met many key people in the contemporary art, cultural, and museum scenes here. There is a lot of excitement, energy, and exciting initiatives set in place for the upcoming years. Opening an atelier here in Doha felt like the right thing to do.

AKP: Always ahead of the curve!

SB-B: Haha! It seems I was. I’m just saying, honestly, I’m very early here in Doha. And that’s what I love about it. When I came here I started meeting interesting people, collectors, and key figures in the cultural scene, as well as the very few gallerists present. It’s literally the beginning and I was like, “I need to be there.”

Detail from Energy in Nature, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

I’m always attracted to visionary communities in the arts and culture. It made sense, and it was an organic process. I made great friends and was embraced by the cultural community. I am basically the first international artist who moved to Doha by himself. I just came because I love the place—Doha is a hidden treasure.

What came next was the creation of a bridge between my practice in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, what the south of France has always represented in contemporary arts, and the state of Qatar.

AKP: What was it about Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat that had resonated with you?

SB-B: When I moved to Saint-Jean from London 15 years ago, people were asking me why I moved. The question was about the geographical journey, but the answer was about my journey as a human being and my creative world. It’s very straightforward: the move was about nature, energy, light, and the environment, and that’s why I love Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar, in the midst of his career within the burgeoning art scene in Qatar

In the region from Arles and St-Paul to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Aix-en-Provence, you can see the tracks of great artists. Funnily enough, it was Darius who was one of the first people to call it; he said that Sassan’s work resembles a melted Monet and Paul Signac. I was really pulled in by the south of France already being my home. There I continued to study nature, the light, and I started painting energy.

AKP: When did your creative journey start, and what brought about your signature style?

SB-B: I started at the age of four with my father, who taught me how to paint. We lived together on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris, and he would sit me by the window to paint the views. Our weekly museum visits—seeing works by Monet, Signac, Van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard and others—planted seeds that later affected my work without me realising it.

I always had a close relationship with colours found in nature, how their shades would change under different light was a fascinating concept for me as a child. It’s probably why I spent years trying to recreate this effect on my living paintings. I was in Iran between the ages of eight and 18, and was mesmerised by the Persian touch and their attention to detail when creating art. Trying mosaic, mirror works and Ghalamkari entered me into a different world. It seems the mixing of these two creative worlds, alongside my vision of humanity and my life experience brought forth my signature style.

Energy in Spring, by Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

AKP: What is your working practice? What is your starting point and how does it evolve?

SB-B: Nobody sees how I paint; not even my wife has properly seen how I create my works, which I think is a bit weird. Once I start painting I’m in my space and I do not like to be disturbed, I don’t like to have an external energy enter my bubble.

My work is not planned, there are no sketches, there is no pre-planning in any way. My painting process is literally the release of the emotions I have at a particular moment. It can start with something rather darker, and when the work is finished, the darkness is transformed into a positive tangible experience on the surface of the canvas.

As I keep on working, layer by layer, all the previous layers are covered, which gradually transforms the darkness into something positive and beautiful to look at – and on this I’m quoting my audience and my collectors.

I work predominantly with natural pigments and various natural media, so my process has become some sort of an alchemy at this stage. I usually let go of my tools when I see that the piece actually transfers that energy I’m looking for, and it needs to be poignant, so you can have a chemical reaction in your brain, leading you to think differently about life and humanity.

The artist at his studio in Doha with his wife Maria, an interiors entrepreneur, and son

AKP: And you need to be alone for this?

SB-B: One of my collectors, a very close friend, saw me paint one time, and it was a beautiful journey for both of us. As a contemporary artist with an old-school soul, I do like to sit down with some of my close collectors and have a vintage bottle of red, discuss art and life and everything in between. And one day I was in the mood, and I started painting in front of him – and this has happened one time only – so he was just sitting there watching me, and at the end he said, “Now I understand how you transform the darkness into something positive in your work and life!”.

AKP: You are in Qatar at a time that is so exciting. How did your move first come about?

SB-B: I came to Qatar in December 2023. And a year and a half later people ask me, “Sassan, how did you do this? You’re such a visionary guy.” And I’m like, “What are you talking about?” I just followed my gut feeling, and I’m very transparent about it. I really saw something great about the art and cultural scene, as well as the immense potential in an upcoming ecosystem.

We were flying back from the Maldives to Nice to go to Cap-Ferrat and we always had stopovers in Doha. We decided this one time to stay in Doha for a week and explore the city. That was in November 2023. So we explored everywhere and we went to a place called the Inland Sea, where the desert meets the sea. It’s beautiful.

‘My process has become some sort of an alchemy at this stage’ – Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

I remember laying down watching the stars in the sky in the evening. And I had this feeling of having been there already. I felt very rooted, this calmness took over my whole being in a way that was familiar. So I just went with that. I thought, “I really feel good here.” I don’t know if it was the beauty of that place, if it was looking at the reflection of the moon and the stars on the sea, or the energy present. Something made me feel at ease. Two months later, we were here.

AKP: It had to be done.

SB-B: It just pulled me in. There is this sense of calmness here, which is hard to explain. You have to be here to feel it. It allows you to simply live and be, which in turn had an impact on my life and practice. The energy of this place took me back to my childhood and allowed me to deal with so much buried trauma. It freed me from so much weight I was carrying, and changed my outlook on life. The Qataris are wonderful people, very kind, respectful, and bon vivant. Culture is very important to them, and I appreciate the many friendships I have made here.

AKP: How has it developed in your work?

‘Creation isn’t a one-time act but an eternal performance, and every ending seeds a new beginning’ – Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

SB-B: I am a workaholic, so in summer I like to disappear and usually end up on an island with my wife and son, and I just meditate. So we were in the Maldives. After meditating, I pick up my sketchbook, creating ideas, not drawing but writing. When I have an idea, I write it and I keep developing that idea, and the latest is a new body of works called Heartbeats.

Channelling earth’s energy to bloom to its full potential, a flower is a symbol in Heartbeats, marking key moments in our lives, whether towards evolution and love, or destruction and darkness. Flowers embody human principles of growth, attraction, and renewal, and can teach us to awaken to our inner light and root in Earth’s energy. By pursuing truth and vitality, we each contribute to a collective blossoming—a human evolution marked by resilience, beauty, and unity.

Under the guiding sun, humanity transforms into a garden, where every flower’s growth illuminates the path to a vital, truthful, interconnected future. Representing hope and interconnectedness, the flowers on the canvas symbolise resilience, encouraging humans to act with integrity even in challenging circumstances.

It is not only what we do, but its source, whose metaphysical action determines the value of all human action with every heartbeat. There is a dance of creation implying rhythm: the ebb and flow of the seasons, the pulse of heartbeats, the oscillation between destruction and renewal. In this view, creation isn’t a one-time act but an eternal performance, and every ending seeds a new beginning.

Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar for the cover of LUX’s Winter 2025/26 issue, designing our logo in his signature style

Heartbeats comes from the time I spent as a young teenager in the vast wild tulip fields of the Alborz mountains, north of Tehran. I always compared my life to these tulip fields, growing back each season no matter how harsh the circumstances. In my eyes, these wild tulips, blooming despite adversity, paralleled human resilience in facing life’s challenges. Perhaps our primary responsibility is to evolve as beings who are conduits for the supreme creative power of the universe, similarly to flowers.

AKP: What are your thoughts on Art Basel Qatar and art in the wider region?

SB-B: I believe they have chosen the best place for such a fair in the region. I think there is a nice synergy. Holding the fair at M7 and at the Doha Design District makes sense, and I’m looking forward to experiencing the fair in Doha. It’s surely a new page in the contemporary and modern art story of Qatar.

sassanbehnambakhtiar.com

Interview by Angeliki Kim Perfetti

Photographs by Ben Cope

Reading time: 12 min

Architecture, Food, Latest Stories, Uncategorized

Luxury travel from the Alps to the Persian Gulf

The Sassongher, dramatically located in the Dolomites

The season to choose is coming: head up to the mountains or down to the ocean, or both? LUX Editor-in-Chief visits hotels in offbeat Alpine locations, perfect for discovery skiing, and drops by two lesser-visited luxury destinations in the Persian Gulf

Hotel Sassongher, Corvara, Dolomites, Italy

Italian cuisine, Austrian hospitality and tradition, the most spectacular skiing circuit in the Alps and utter tranquillity. If that sounds like the perfect skiing holiday, we can attest that it probably is.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

First things first. The Hotel Sassongher sits on a ledge above a broad plateau with the resort of Corvara to the front. Behind, forested slopes rise dramatically. This is the Dolomites, one of the most unusual and beautiful areas of Europe, with mountains of sheer pillars of rock rising from forested plateaus and valleys that look like nowhere else. Corvara is one of the higher resorts at 1,570m altitude, so its cool but sunny winters preserve its snow and provide clear blue skies.

Stylish tradition in a room with a view at the Hotel Sassongher

The hotel is festooned with souvenirs of the region’s heritage. Austrian until the end of the First World War and now Italian, it feels like both of the countries and neither, traditional yet flamboyant. The cultural benefits manifest themselves at dinner: a buffet, but of the highest quality, with a variety of meat, pasta, bean and mountain dishes that suggest Austrian heartiness with Italy’s delicacy and generosity.

Transport to the ski-lift hub, four minutes away, is always available and came rapidly when we finished skiing each day. The skiing is also special: it may lack the dramatic black runs of star French and Swiss resorts, but it has something else: the Sellaronda, a huge circuit that takes a good intermediate all day to ski, joining a series of resorts in quite separate valleys around a small board of peaks. On the clearly marked circuit, you have the feeling of visiting lots of mini-mountain cultures, rather than, say, the hyper-organised uniformity of Courchevel. There are also so many welcoming restaurants that you could have plenty of lunches, but keep temptation at bay because of what’s in store each evening at the Sassongher.

Wellness facilities at the Hotel Sassongher

This is traditional family luxury, not bling or new luxe. Rooms are reasonably big, particularly for the Alps, with traditional decor and those gorgeous views across the mountains. We also liked the bar, which lured us into Tyrolian cosiness for cocktails – no attempts to reproduce an urban bar landscape here. A very special and individual family-run hotel, offering a type of culinary, gentle comfort that cannot be reproduced.

sassongher.it/en

The super-stylish ski-concierge room at the Six Senses Crans-Montana

Six Senses Crans-Montana, Switzerland

Ground-breaking super-luxury resorts such as Six Senses can be placemakers in destinations around the world. But what if the place is already made? Crans in Switzerland was an elegant place before the Asian spa-resort company came along. It might not have had the cachet of Verbier or Zermatt across the valley, but it has some of the greatest resort views in the Alps, thanks to its position on a forested shelf high above the Rhone river, skiing on an interesting and sunny mountainside, and a scattering of luxury boutiques and high-end restaurants.

Into this already elevated environment, Six Senses arrived in 2023 with quite an impact. The resort is built into the mountainside right next to the main gondola lift up the mountain and beside the end of the main run back into the resort. As a ski-in, ski-out experience, it’s pretty special.

A deluxe terrace room at the Six Senses Crans-Montana

So is the arrival, where you are ushered into a world of Zen, encouraged to listen to the chime of a gong and quickly disappear into a world of relaxation and luxury.

It doesn’t stop there: the spa is a vast haven of some of the most holistically designed creative treatments of any spot in the world – the brand started as a pretty revolutionary spa concept. The Zen-meets-Alpine luxury ambience extends into the Swiss restaurant, Wild Cabin, which is all natural feels and plays on local ingredients: rösti with Swiss trout and spicy mayonnaise was magnificent, as was serac gnocchi with parmesan sauce. Our capacious room had plenty of blonde woods and a Scandi-Swiss-Asian chic about it, plus a freestanding bathtub lined with scented candles in a grey marble bathroom lined with weathered pine. The balcony looked out over forests and valleys. The service is at a level above anything this resort has previously experienced.

A deluxe terrace bathroom at Six Senses Crans-Montana

And if you do feel like venturing out of the hotel, clip on your skis or board to descend a few metres to the entrance of the lift station and the slopes are yours, with some of the best high mountain views in Switzerland. Skiing here is varied, unusual and characterful, although the domain does not have the reach of some of the mega resorts. That’s part of its charm. As is doing that final sharp left of the day on the run down from the top and skiing straight into the boot room, where a ski concierge will relieve you of your equipment and usher you to a lounge offering hot chocolate, mulled wine and various more exotic offerings.

Six Senses, an Asian beach luxury brand, may have not made this destination in the Alps, but it has just taken it to another level.

sixsenses.com

The Four Seasons Doha, complete with a private beach

Four Seasons Doha, Qatar

If you expected a classic Four Seasons hotel in a capital city to be more corporate than enjoyable, think again. On the Corniche in Doha (which, unlike its Lebanese and French namesakes, is just a broad boulevard, minus the mountains), the Four Seasons sits on its own private beach, next to which is a winding, shaded pool, all curves.

Our room was all relaxed Mediterranean chic – you could be forgiven for thinking you had arrived at the Four Seasons in Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. The detail was beautiful: blue and white carpets, dark engraved wooden doors, floor-to-ceiling windows and mirrored cabinets with inlaid mosaic – chic and luxurious without being over the top.

The sitting room of a premium one-bedroom suite at the Four Seasons Doha

Across from the beach is a bijou little yacht harbour and we strolled out there one evening to dine at the highlight of the resort – and quite possibly the highlight of Doha – sitting on the terrace of Nobu looking back at the lights of the city. Black cod yuzu miso, rock shrimp tempura and Wagyu beef spicy ponzu tacos were all delicious.

Read more: Boca Raton Hotel and Resort review

Cuisine is a fundamental element of the Four Seasons and we enjoyed equally – almost equally – a fantastic local-style lunch in what is effectively the pool restaurant, the glass-walled Laya Café, which has a laid-back atmosphere and serves an array of meze, grills and salads. We noticed a chicken shawarma rotating on the grill as we walked in and couldn’t resist trying it – it was a revelation: full flavoured, rich, vibrant, with not a hint of oiliness and positively bursting with flavour. It was quite a way to enjoy a poolside lunch and a disincentive to eat anywhere else.

The Makani Beach Club, one of 11 dining options at the Four Seasons Doha

Another Four Seasons resort restaurant of spectacular quality is Curiosa by Jean- Georges, which occupies pride of place in the gardens by the pool. Salmon ceviche with tamarind leche de tigre, escarole and fig salad, and maitake mushrooms with goat’s cheese and Fresno pepper vinaigrette were all vibrant and perfect in the hot climate, accompanied by tangy icy margaritas from the restaurant bar.

In the evenings there was the view from our suite as the desert night closed in over the Gulf. As an urban resort, this Four Seasons, with its combination of gastronomy, beach, bars and vacation-style luxury, is among the very best in the world.

fourseasons.com/doha

The elegant courtyard of the Rixos Premium Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

Rixos Premium Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Saadiyat Island is not what you expect to find in the Gulf. Rather than rows of high rises with nightclubs and celebrity-chef restaurants, it’s a nature reserve with a huge, beautiful beach, all within sight of the skyscrapers of downtown Abu Dhabi. At the heart of the beach is the Rixos resort with its completely unexpected quiet glamour.

We stayed in a villa suite looking out from its terrace over a long, tree-covered private swimming pool. Sit on the terrace in the morning and you are surrounded by birdsong; birds and trees are everywhere here, and there are no urban sounds. A few steps away is a huge outdoor pool with integrated pool bar – again gently chic rather than over-designed Instagramability.

A Rixos breakfast at a superior villa with balcony

Next to the pool area is a dune reserve; you walk above it on a wooden boardwalk to the beach, which is so broad that from stepping onto it to stepping into the sea can be a five-minute walk. The sea itself is clear and shallow above the yellow sand, with the temptation of a Club 55-style beach bar after your swim. Dimensions are huge: as well as being deep from dune to sea, the beach is several hundred metres wide, so you can walk for kilometres past the clubs of other hotels on the strip.

Abu Dhabi takes its reputation as the food basket of the region seriously, and nowhere is this better seen than lunch, not at a flashy brand name but in the main restaurant, where mountains of sushi and sashimi, East Asian specialties, West Asian delicacies, berries, nuts, gourds and vegetables vie for your attention, constantly replenished and tasting as good as they look.

A Rixos two-bedroom suite terrace

Speaking of low-key luxury, we particularly liked the jazz band that played at night in the courtyard that leads down to the pool and the sea, a perfect place for an excellent Old Fashioned.

For something more spicy, head to the Rixos sister hotel on the main Corniche drag in Abu Dhabi. A tower with dramatic views across sea and city, it has a welter of pools, a funky bar by its own beach and a Vegas-style glamour; a totally different vibe, just 15 minutes away.

allinclusive-collection.com

Reading time: 9 min

Try again

A conversation with Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Luxury travel from the Alps to the Persian Gulf

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Popular Posts

Go East Young Man

it’s a small World

Bar Hopping in Bali

Categories

Tags

Recent Posts

Protected: Suite sensations in St Moritz

Protected: A stay at Suvretta House

Inside Diriyah, Saudi Arabia’s new-old cultural city

Search

Protected: Suite sensations in St Moritz

Protected: A stay at Suvretta House

Inside Diriyah, Saudi Arabia’s new-old cultural city

Rachel Verghis interviews Sam Falls