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Lot Essay
One of the fathers of Modern Egyptian painting, Mahmoud Saïd was brought up in the aristocratic circle of Alexandria. Following his father's wishes, he trained as a lawyer and was a judge at the Mixed Tribunals until 1947, painting in his spare time. He developed his own personal style in his depictions of Egyptian landscapes, fascinated by the traditional peasant life in rural Egypt. He also produced a wide range of family, colleagues and friends' portraits, in which he captured his sitter's psychology with a profound sensitivity and re-interpreted in his own way conventional European portraiture. Portrait de Nevine Mazloum is one of Saïd's most beautiful female portraits. Despite her apparent Western appearance, Saïd emphasised her dark Egyptian features, set against a dramatic red background.
Mrs. Nevine Miller was the Alexandrian master's niece. She was the daughter of former Prime Minister Hussein Sirry and Nahed Saïd, one of Mahmoud Saïd's sisters. Nevine's first husband was Ismaïl Mazloum, Mahmoud Saïd's cousin, being the son of Hassan Mazloum, the brother of Saïd's mother Adila Mazloum. Nevine was later re-married to William Miller and although she moved to America, she remains very attached to her uncle Mahmoud and sensitive to his oeuvre, as she shares her memories:
'My uncle Mahmoud has always been an exceptional being in my eyes. I remember very well when he travelled to Paris for the holidays in the 1950s, when I was living there. I asked him then what he wanted to do and he had immediately answered: 'I would like to see the Chartres cathedral again'. Hence the next day, we took the car and went to Chartres, where we spent a wonderful day together.
When we were in the cathedral, he explained to me in detail every single stained-glass window, talking about their colours, the sun that shined through them and the cathedral's structure. I was impressed by everything he knew and rather surprised, but I carefully listened to what he said. After our visit, we had lunch in a bistro next to the cathedral and I realised how knowledgeable he was. That day has stayed in my memory as it was then that I truly discovered my uncle. I remember asking him why he never sold any of his paintings to which he spontaneously replied without any hesitation, 'because I cannot sell a painting to someone whose portrait I may paint tomorrow'.
To me, my uncle was an amazing being, a charming man full of kindness, good-heartedness and especially full of humility despite his great talent. He loved Egypt with all his heart and his painting definitively reflected all the aspects of his home country.'
(N. Miller, Mahmoud Saïd: The Painter and The Man, 2015, translated from French).
Mrs. Nevine Miller was the Alexandrian master's niece. She was the daughter of former Prime Minister Hussein Sirry and Nahed Saïd, one of Mahmoud Saïd's sisters. Nevine's first husband was Ismaïl Mazloum, Mahmoud Saïd's cousin, being the son of Hassan Mazloum, the brother of Saïd's mother Adila Mazloum. Nevine was later re-married to William Miller and although she moved to America, she remains very attached to her uncle Mahmoud and sensitive to his oeuvre, as she shares her memories:
'My uncle Mahmoud has always been an exceptional being in my eyes. I remember very well when he travelled to Paris for the holidays in the 1950s, when I was living there. I asked him then what he wanted to do and he had immediately answered: 'I would like to see the Chartres cathedral again'. Hence the next day, we took the car and went to Chartres, where we spent a wonderful day together.
When we were in the cathedral, he explained to me in detail every single stained-glass window, talking about their colours, the sun that shined through them and the cathedral's structure. I was impressed by everything he knew and rather surprised, but I carefully listened to what he said. After our visit, we had lunch in a bistro next to the cathedral and I realised how knowledgeable he was. That day has stayed in my memory as it was then that I truly discovered my uncle. I remember asking him why he never sold any of his paintings to which he spontaneously replied without any hesitation, 'because I cannot sell a painting to someone whose portrait I may paint tomorrow'.
To me, my uncle was an amazing being, a charming man full of kindness, good-heartedness and especially full of humility despite his great talent. He loved Egypt with all his heart and his painting definitively reflected all the aspects of his home country.'
(N. Miller, Mahmoud Saïd: The Painter and The Man, 2015, translated from French).