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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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 87th
“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”.
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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, 1st
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Salah Abdel Karim
:
1925 – 1988
"Tubes 2"
100X200 cm
Iron
Signed 1975
Born in Fayoum to a big family of 5 brothers and
sisters. In 1938 he meets the famous painter
Hussein Bikar and he becomes his student in the
Faculty of Arts in Qena. He remained much
attached to his professor all through his life.
In 1940 he meets Hussein Youssef Amin and the
Group of Contemporary Art the secondary
school of Farouk First in Abassya district in
Cairo when he was introduced to surrealism for
the first time. In 1943 he becomes a student at
the Faculty of Fine Arts and graduates with
excellence and honors in 1947. In 1948 he
becomes an assistant to the interior decoration
section at the FFA. He is then sent to a mission
in Paris in 1952 and he becomes a student to
Paul Colin and A. Marie Cassandre for publicity
and theatre design. He then moves to Rome in
1956 to study design for cinema. In 1957 he
received the international prize in painting
from San Vito Romano, Italy and obtains his PHD
from Centro Sperimental di Cinemato Grafia. Back
to Egypt in 1958 he is appointed professor at
the FFA where he started experimenting with his
masterpieces sculptures in wrought iron. In 1959
he receives the first prize for sculpture at the
Biennale of Alexandria. At the same year he
receives from the Biennale of Saint Paolo,
Brazil an honorary merit for his sculpture ‘The
Fish’. In 1960 he receives the award of the
Guggenheim National section for his painting
‘Fighting Roosters’. |
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