Teraat El-Mahmoudia

Representing a delightful scene of the riverbanks of the Mahmoudieh canal just outside Alexandria, Teraat El-Mahmoudia grasps a fleeting moment of daily Egyptian life. The Mahmoudieh canal is the water highway between the Nile and the city, not only bringing freshwater to the Alexandrians, but also irrigating the agricultural land around the city. Dating from around 1929, this painting presents some stylistic similarities and a comparable palette of colours as well as subject matter to Mahmoud Saïd's Automnale executed in 1929, from the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo, currently on loan to the University of Miniah. In both Automnale and the present lot, Saïd's ingenuous composition is carefully constructed by the diagonals of the feluccas' masts, by the verticals of his signature palm trees loaded with dates and in Teraat El-Mahmoudia, by the horizontality of the architecture, riverbank, clouds and boats' hulls. This intricate geometric play, that animates the peaceful river scene, is further enhanced by the dialogue between the complimentary colours of the vibrant blue tones found in the water, sky and sprinkled throughout the houses with the warm ochre and sepia colours used for the tree-trunks, dates and architecture. An exquisite example of a typical rural Egyptian scene in the fertile suburbs of Alexandria, Teraat El-Mahmoudia epitomises Mahmoud Saïd's style and his extraordinary ability of capturing the essence of his homeland and of his people's daily life.