Born in the upper Egyptian aristocracy, Mahmoud Said is a magistrate. He had visited Europe and modern painting is his passion. In his spare time he paints in oil the survivals from ancient traditions. A study of whirling dervishes painted in 1929 was sold for $ 2.55M including premium by Christie's on October 26, 2010. A scene of shadoofs on the Nile river painted in 1934 was sold for $ 2.4M including premium on April 24, 2010, also by Christie's.
Far away from his daily tasks, this still amateur artist observes the ethnic beauty of ordinary women, first in intimate nudes and then in portraits closer to their everyday life. His great merit is to have revealed the modern pride of Egypt with the techniques of European painting.
On April 18 in London, Bonhams sells as lot 8 an oil on canvas 81 x 58 cm painted in 1938 which was successively titled Fellaha au voile noir and Fille à l'imprimé.
This very young peasant woman with an introverted gaze enters modern life while practicing a hard traditional occupation for her livelihood. Her cheap dress is printed with patterns of brightly colored flowers. Her elbow is resting on an amphora. In the distance, barely perceptible, another herself carries the amphora to take water at the river.
This young person has nothing in common with the mysterious girls of Egypt re-imagined by the European Orientalists. The features of her face and her dark skin are typical of Bedouin groups in the north of the country. This painting was greatly applauded in 1939 at the Salon du Caire, becoming the symbol of the artistic representation of the real Egyptian life.
The second world war slowed down this expectation for modernism. Judge Said continued, becoming a full-time artist in 1947 only.
Please watch the video prepared by Bonhams to introduce the whole sale by positioning modernism in Egyptian history. Fille à l'imprimé is a significant element in that trend.
SOLD for £ 510K including premium
Far away from his daily tasks, this still amateur artist observes the ethnic beauty of ordinary women, first in intimate nudes and then in portraits closer to their everyday life. His great merit is to have revealed the modern pride of Egypt with the techniques of European painting.
On April 18 in London, Bonhams sells as lot 8 an oil on canvas 81 x 58 cm painted in 1938 which was successively titled Fellaha au voile noir and Fille à l'imprimé.
This very young peasant woman with an introverted gaze enters modern life while practicing a hard traditional occupation for her livelihood. Her cheap dress is printed with patterns of brightly colored flowers. Her elbow is resting on an amphora. In the distance, barely perceptible, another herself carries the amphora to take water at the river.
This young person has nothing in common with the mysterious girls of Egypt re-imagined by the European Orientalists. The features of her face and her dark skin are typical of Bedouin groups in the north of the country. This painting was greatly applauded in 1939 at the Salon du Caire, becoming the symbol of the artistic representation of the real Egyptian life.
The second world war slowed down this expectation for modernism. Judge Said continued, becoming a full-time artist in 1947 only.
Please watch the video prepared by Bonhams to introduce the whole sale by positioning modernism in Egyptian history. Fille à l'imprimé is a significant element in that trend.
SOLD for £ 510K including premium
#Watch our Head of Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, Nima Sagharchi, discuss the key themes in Mahmoud Said's "Fille a l'imprime" - the star lot in the forthcoming Egypt's Awakening and Middle Eastern Art sale on April 18 2018 in London. https://t.co/cbW6GuF1uA pic.twitter.com/I9ZiaNtZdI
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) April 10, 2018
'Fille à l'imprime' by #MahmoudSaid, the father of Egyptian modernism, leads our 'Egypt's Awakening' sale in London on 18 April. Never offered at auction, the painting is considered Said's most iconic portrait, and a defining work of Egyptian 20th C. art https://t.co/geWznPnuN2 pic.twitter.com/PYBbkvMUqi
— Bonhams (@bonhams1793) March 22, 2018
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