Seif Wanly: 1908-1979
"La Belle Epoque"
50x70 cm
Oil on canvas
Signed

Born in 1908 in Alexandria and studied art in the studio of Antonio Becci. He traveled a lot to different European countries and participated with his brother in 17 private exhibitions, also his works were shown in the Biennale of Venice, Sao Paolo in Brazil and the Biennale of Alexandria. In 1936 he received the Mokhtar Award in painting and in 1949 he received the award of “Richard”. In 1953 he received the medal of the Afro Asian exhibition and in 1959 received the first award of the Biennale of Alexandria. His works exists in the museums of Cairo and Alexandria. After he finished his studies with Becci Seif Wanly established his own studio with his brother Adham Wanly. Both of them began their life in art applying the classical western style than turned to the impressionism. But Seif soon turned to the fauvism in which he excelled. After his brother’s death Seif’s paintings were mostly in the black colors with its different shades than his work turned to the fantasies with its different colors and topics. After 1961 the prominent aspect in his work was that dealing with subjects of daily life and his love of portraying every single detail in that concern. This we notice when he dealt with the theatre, the daily life of the participants on the stage and behind the stage, the musicians the ballerinas, the actors, and the comedians. They all became part of his life. He lived their life, became one of them and that is how he excelled in portraying them. Because of these fantasies of his style we can feel a certain mood of happiness and the music of the work could reach us easily. His world combined music, ballet, opera and even poetry and all these factors were present in his art.

Tahia Halim: 1919-2003
"Nubian and Bird"
59x40 cm
Oil on canvas
Signed

Tahia Halim’s brush distills colors that leave objects slender, and lines light. It is as though this distiller were changing elements and her eyes were wavering between opening and closing, looking reality in the eye and dreaming with one at the same time. In handling forms she shows a flair for colorful expressionism. This comes as no surprise. Her artistic forms combine a host of features derived from engravings on the walls of famous Pharaonic tombs. They are illustriously based on an instinctive love of nature that is in harmony with the world around. These features are strong enough to induce detachment from the old patterns that dominated the scene for years and centuries. Tahia Halim approaches Egyptian objects with clear reverence and great love. She depicts the daily life of the Egyptian people, fellaheen, dervishes, fishermen and women along the banks of the Nile. She lures you into meditating a painting which shows a mother: as swarthy in complexion as the Nile reflection, with a nude child by the Nile side as if recalling to our minds the tale of Moses with the pharaoh’s daughter. The themes of her famous shows were inspired by Nubia to which Tahia Halim was officially sent to record its inhabitants’ lifestyle before being flooded. As for colors Tahia Halim is inclined towards contrasts of gentle dark red and other parts colored by crimson or greenish blue. This verges on subdued lighting. The common elements in Tahia Halim’s art development is the emphasis on human values underlined by color solemnity, established expressiveness and typical Egyptian concepts. All this is heightened into forms that go beyond the present time to turn into everlasting hymns. 

Nahmia Saad: 1912-1945
"Nude"
50x60 cm
Wax colors & pencils on paper

Born in Assiut, Upper Egypt. Studied painting at the higher school of Fine Arts on its inception. Was attracted to graphic art and studied under Bernard Rice professor of graphic art at the time and discovered new vista. Exhibited much of his work in the Salon du Caire exhibitions. He executed decorative panels for the main entrance of the Egyptian Pavilion of the Paris International exhibition of 1937, and was awarded the exhibition’s Gold Medal. In conjunction with Mohamed Nagi, Mohamed Labib and Margot Veillon, he provided the illustrations for the tourist book “ Egypt, Land of Exploration “ which was produced on the occasion of the Paris Exhibition. He devoted himself to depicting Upper Egypt in the Luxor studios, producing some of his finest graphic works. He died of a pulmonary disease of the age of thirty-three.

Inji Eflatoun: 1924-1989
"Gathering Oranges"
50x40 cm
Oil on hard board
Signed 1979

Inji Eflatoun pursued free studies in art. Since 1942, she has participated in the exhibitions of the avant grade “Art and Freedom Group”. This was the first society that attempted to free modern Egyptian art from the bonds of academism and formalism prevailing then. In March 1952, she had her first one person exhibition in Cairo and since then, she held 28 solo shows in Egypt and abroad. She has exhibited in Rome in 1967 at the “Paese Nove” gallery, in Paris at the “Galerie de l’Universite”, in Dresden, East Germany, Warsaw, Poland, Moscow and Prague. She held a one person show in 1979, in New Delhi, India, in 1981 at the Egyptian Academy in Rome, and in 1988 in Kuwait. She has also participated in group exhibition such as the Biennale of Sao Paolo in 1953, the Biennale of Venice 1968, and the Contemporary Egyptian Art exhibition in Paris in 1971.In 1975, Mrs. Eflatoun helped organize the “Ten Egyptian Woman Artist in half a Century” exhibition, held in Cairo on the occasion of the International year for woman, and in which she took part. In 1976 she was in charge of the Egyptian Pavilion at the 87^th “Salon des Independents” in Paris, in the Grand Palais. The artist’s works were acquired by the Modern art Museum in Cairo, in Alexandria and in Dresden, the National Museum in Warsaw the Oriental Museum in Sophia, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Italian Deputies Council and by private collectors in Egypt and abroad. In 1986, she was awarded by the French Ministry of Culture a medal of merit called “Cavalier of the Arts and Literature”.

Hussein Bikar: 1913-2002
"Woman carrying Pot"
67x45 cm
Oil on hard board
Signed 1980

Born in Alexandria. Graduated from the Higher School of Fine Arts in 1933. Taught art classes from 1933 to 1942. Art critic journalist and artist with “Akhbar El-Youm” since 1944. Staff member of the Faculity of fine arts in Cairo from 1943-1959. Head of the painting department of the Faculity of fine arts, Cairo. Lecturer on art at the Cinema Institute. Supervisor Professor of higher studies at the faculity of fine arts and the faculity of art education. Has published critical works in Egyptian newspapers and reviews. Participated in several commissions responsible for the preparation of artistic competitions. Reporter of the committee of plastic arts in the higher council for arts from 1980-1988. Member of special national committees. Awarded an honorary prize by the Moroccan government in 1942. Medal of Merit, 1^st order in 1960, Diploma of Merit by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, 1961. Honorary prize at the Alexandria Biennial, 1970. State Merit Prize for the arts, 1980. Author and illustrator of numerous children’s books. Represented Egypt at the fine art Conference in Yugoslavia in 1956.

Hidayet Chiraz : unknown - 1965
"Camel by the water canal"
45x35 cm
Water Color on paper
Signed

Unfortunately very little is known in Egypt about Hidayet the great Turkish painter and watercolorist. His name is merely mentioned in the art books published at the beginning of the century with some photos of his art. Hidayet became a very well known voice and even his works of watercolor are sold at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Our knowledge about him is that he is of Turkish origin and studied art in England especially watercolor. Early in the 20’s Hidayet came to Egypt through Palestine to cure himself from the rheumatic fever he suffered from. His settling in Egypt seemed to be his cure and he stayed in it until he died in 1965. So it was the light of Egypt that gave him the incentive to practice his art. Thus he produced hundreds or thousands of Nilotic sceneries and landscapes of the countryside as well as his recording of ancient Egyptian relics from Luxor and Aswan and all over Upper Egypt. Hidayet was known to be the painter of the royal family and the upper Egyptian aristocracy. During that era it was these societies that appreciated and understood art. So Hidayet became very popular and usually he was requested to make special paintings whether oil or watercolors with definite subjects. His watercolor is supposed to be the best in the history of Egyptian art. He was able to capture the scene in front of him whether it is from old Cairo or Pharonic Egypt in a most exquisite way with the balanced well studied effects of shadow and light and men in old garments. He also recorded activities of the high society from the Gezira club which was frequented by the high aristocracy. Hidayet had a school in his downtown apartment where he taught art.

Hamed Nada: 1924 – 1990
"Woman and Bird"
20x20 cm
Oil on paper
Signed 1974                                     

Nada was born in the district of the citadel which is supposed to be the oldest popular area of Cairo. In this district Nada the boy was confronted with those people believing in magic and the supernatural powers living their day dreaming of the next without moving or attempting to confront what they have. Hamed Nada’s paintings are essentially autobiographical. These images he depicted in his paintings originated in the atmosphere of the communal home where he was born. They evoke his neighborhood and its traditions with folkloric details as the water pipe or mischievous jinn. At the same time his paintings are allegorical. They tell stories inspired by the storyteller. During his first period Nada’s approach to art was marked by his association with the Egyptian literary society and their paper ‘El-Sakafa’. He also was influenced by his introduction in this period to Youssef Amin’s group of Contemporary Art and by his school friend A.H.El-Gazzar.

Ervand Demirdjian: 1870 – 1936
"Portrait"
30x40 cm
Oil on canvas
Signed

Ervand Demirdjian was born in May 1870 in Constantinople where he studied fine arts and graduated with honors in 1890. In 1893 he went to Paris and enrolled in the junior academy of Art becoming a student to painter Jean Paul Laurens and to the famous orientalist Benjamin Constant. At the same time he worked at the Louvre studying and copying classical works such as Delacroix, Dante and Virgil. After returning to Constantinople he was faced with the persecution of the Turks against the Armenians. In 1896 he fled with a group of Armenians and reached Alexandria and from where he moved to Cairo. Together with 2,000 other Armenian refugees he began a miserable life until the local Armenian community led by Decran Pasha did its best to shelter and feed them. After a short time Demirdjian was able to become a part of the Egyptian popular life and started studying their mode of life and mannerism. This led to an enormous quantity of drawings and paintings documenting everyday life. He participated in some of the annual exhibitions of the Circle of Artists which is the first artistic group in modern Egypt. In 1901 he began lecturing art and teaching in the Khorenian Armenian School where he tutored students privately and the most talented was the known painter Diran Garabedian (1882-1963) who became his successor and one of the first avant-garde in Egypt.

Dr. Mohamed Ismail: 1936 – 1993
"Symbolism and mystic figures"       
250x120 cm                
Oil on wood                 

Dr. Mohamed Ismail was born in 1936 in Zagazig in Egypt. He graduated and obtained his Masters in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo. He received his Ph.D. in the history of Fine Arts. He held numerous private and collective exhibitions from 1958 – 1969. Dr M.Ismail started his globe trotting from 1969 till 1987. He started with Europe visiting Greece, Spain and France going to North Africa and then to Turkey in the Near East. He moved on to Beirut, Kuwait, Iran and India before breaking camp to his favorite continent the Far East. In Tokyo he knew love and considered it home. He has many acquisitions in several countries and the most important is in Museum of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was then invited by the Shahbanou of Iran, who was very impressed by his work to teach art there. Consequence he learned farsi and headed to Tehran to paint and lecture there for years until the revolution. He obtained many International and Arab prizes.