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LA COLLECTION D'ART ÉGYPTIEN MODERNE DU DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI " Le fait d'avoir connu l'atmosphère enchantée de l'Alexandrie des années 1950 a eu une profonde influence sur ma sensibilité artistique ". Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi La collection d'art moderne égyptien du Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi est sans aucun doute le groupe le plus important de ce genre à être resté entre les mains d'un particulier. Constituée au cours de plusieurs décennies, composée de centaines d'oeuvres, elle représente un aperçu exhaustif de l'art égyptien du XXe siècle. Inspirée par la volonté d'évoquer les tendances différentes de chaque école de l'art égyptien moderne, elle est un témoignage de l'ouverture d'esprit du Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi. Que ce soit Mahmoud Said, Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, Hamed Nada ou les frères Seif et Adham Wanly, toutes les oeuvres choisies sont d'une qualité qui n'est égalée que par celles se trouvant au Musée d'Art Moderne Egyptien du Caire. Nous avons le plaisir de présenter à la suite 40 oeuvres de la collection du Dr. Farsi. Celles-ci, ainsi que celles incluses dans la vente d'Art Contemporain International, prévue le 26 octobre à Dubai, offrent une opportunité unique pour les collectionneurs du monde entier d'acquérir des emblèmes majeurs de l'art arabe moderne. THE DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI COLLECTION OF MODERN EGYPTIAN ART " Living intimately within Alexandria's enchanted atmosphere of the 1950s had the greatest effect in forming my artistic consciousness. Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi The collection of Egyptian Modern art of Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi is without question the most important group of its kind in private hands. Amassed over decades and running into several hundred items, the collection represents a complete panorama of modern Egyptian art. The collection includes important works by Mahmoud Said, Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, Hamed Nada and the brothers Seif and Adham Wanly. Such a collection of masterpieces is scarcely seen outside the Egyptian Museum of Modern Art of Cairo. In his admiration for a wide range of tastes and styles, Dr. Farsi always found beauty in many different aspects of the artistic process. For him what matters is authenticity of production, so that the artist's spirit comes to us through his work. Included in this sale are 40 works from the collection of Dr. Farsi. Along with the sale of International Contemporary Art scheduled on October 26th in Dubai, this will offer collectors a unique opportunity to acquire works of the highest caliber by some of the Middle East's most important artists. Never before has such an extensive selection of museum-quality Middle Eastern works been offered in international auction. L'ART MODERNE EN EGYPTE Durant la première moitié du XXe siècle, l'Egypte est un haut-lieu de la culture du bassin méditerranéen, et le premier pays à défendre un art moderne riche et reconnu. Dès le début du XIXe siècle, des villes telles que Le Caire ou Alexandrie se développèrent à l'image des plus grandes capitales européennes. L'ouverture de grandes artères, inspirées par l'influence haussmanienne, jouxtèrent les anciens quartiers de ces villes séculaires. L'histoire de l'art égyptien du XXe siècle est profondément ancrée dans cette dualité et est marquée par la succession de trois générations d'artistes qui l'ont inlassablement évoquée. Ils furent aussi bien inspirés par l'histoire antique de leur pays, vieille de plus de 5 000 ans, que par le développement industriel. LA PREMIERE GENERATION Nous pourrions dater les origines de l'art moderne égyptien à 1908, année de l'ouverture de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Darb El-Jamamiz. Parmi ses premiers étudiants, tous nés vers la fin du XIXe siècle, on peut compter Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891-1956), Ragheb Ayad (1892-1982) et Mahmoud Said (1896-1964). Le travail de ces trois artistes traduit une profonde identité égyptienne, se détachant progressivement de l'influence académique européenne. La découverte du tombeau de Toutankhamon en 1922 leur permit de chercher une inspiration dans les périodes pré-islamiques et chrétiennes. Le style néo-pharaonique de Mahmoud Mokhtar s'inspire des héros nationaux égyptiens, comme Saad Zaghloul ou le plus ordinaire fellahin (ouvrier agricole). Il met ainsi la vie quotidienne et la spiritualité au centre de son oeuvre. Mahmoud Said, qui reprend les mêmes thèmes, se concentre quant à lui davantage sur les jeunes femmes autochtones et les pêcheurs. LA SECONDE GENERATION De la seconde moitié des années 1920 aux années 1940, la montée de dissidences politiques, de droite comme de gauche, ébranle profondément la société égyptienne. Les artistes nés entre 1900 et 1914, soit avant la Première Guerre mondiale, constituent la seconde génération d'artistes modernes. Ils ont été souvent ignorés, voire stigmatisés par les historiens, comme les frères Seif et Adham Wanly. LA TROISIEME GENERATION ET LE GROUPE DE L'ART CONTEMPORAIN A l'issue de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'art égyptien a connu un second élan. Le mouvement le plus important de cette époque est le Groupe d'art contemporain, qui compte parmi ses membres Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, Hamed Nada et Samir Rafi. Fondé en 1946, et présidé par Hussein Youssef Amin (1904-1984), il cherche à élaborer un art puisant dans les racines et les valeurs égyptiennes. La raison d'être de l'art est ainsi de dépasser le clivage entre la figuration et l'abstraction et d'embrasser des concepts universels. Trois courants se distinguent au sein de ce même groupe. Le premier, qui a choisi une approche formaliste, est resté fidèle aux tendances de l'art occidental moderne. Le second a mêlé la figuration à une redécouverte de la nature et a été influencé par le mouvement surréaliste. Le troisième, qui va progressivement s'imposer comme le plus important, se concentre sur l'identité égyptienne. L'un de ses premiers porte-parole est Hamed Nada qui, cherchant à se rapprocher d'une conception populaire de l'art, a dépeint les populations opprimées et profondément appauvries par la crise économique ayant frappé l'Egypte après la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Les oeuvres de Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar expriment le même souci de réalisme. Ce dernier groupe a organisé cinq expositions au Caire, à Alexandrie et à Paris. L'une d'elles, montée en parallèle de l'exposition franco-égyptienne, s'est déroulée au Louvre. La dernière a eu lieu au Musée d'Art Moderne Egyptien du Caire. MODERN ART IN EGYPT Modern Art in Egypt has a long and distinguished history. Egypt in the first half of the twentieth century was the most sophisticated destination in the Eastern Mediterranean, and arguably the first Arab country with its own recognizably modern art. In the early nineteenth century, much of Cairo and Alexandria had been remodeled along the lines of the most chic European countries. The newly-built boulevards, resembling nothing so much as those of Haussmann in Paris, sat uneasily next to the medieval quarters of these old cities. The story of Modern Egyptian art is tied to national identity. From its beginnings in the early twentieth century, Egyptian artists have often grappled with the multi-layered reality that is Egypt. The cultural history of Egypt stretches back more than 5 000 years, from the Pharaonic era through to Graeco-Roman, from the Islamic to the industrial and modern global manifestations. The transition has not always been comfortable, and it is at this final stage that the journey of modern art in Egypt begins. THE FIRST GENERATION The official beginning of the Egyptian art movement was 1908, with the opening of the School of Fine Arts in Darb El-Jamamiz. Among its early students were artists now considered amongst the First Generation of pioneer artists - those to have been born before the turn of the twentieth century, including Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891-1956), Ragheb Ayad (1892-1982) and Mahmoud Said (1896-1964). The work of all three of these artists demonstrate a strong Egyptian character and a departure from the norms of European-style academic art prevalent at the time. The discovery of Tutakhamun's tomb in 1922 stirred in Egypt profound feelings for a distant pre-Islamic and pre-Christian past. Mahmoud Mokhtar's neo-pharaonic style played down foreign influences and his choice of subject matter laid an emphasis on national heroes, both public figures such as Saad Zaghloul and, more poignantly, the ordinary fellahin (agricultural workers). Much of Ragheb Ayad's work centres around folk life and the speciality of the common man. In that of Mahmoud Said comparable motifs recur, including his favorite subjects - local girls and the fishing community. THE SECOND GENERATION The second half of the 1920s and the 1940s saw political upheavals as right- and left-wing groups, inspired by either European fascism or communism, rocked Egyptian society to the core. Those artists born between 1900 and 1914, before the eve of the First World War, are considered of the Second Generation. Artists of the Second Generation shunned imagery of the previous generation and their work is remarkably eclectic. Artists of this generation are often ignored or vilified by historians, yet amongst their number were a few outstanding talents. One of the strengths of Dr. Farsi's collection is the huge number of works by the brothers Seif and Adham Wanly, two of the most celebrated artists of this generation. Their work is highly international and often conspicuously free from references to an Egyptian setting. THE THIRD GENERATION AND THE CONTEMPORARY ART GROUP Following the end of the Second Worl War, Egyptian art saw something of a revival. The Third Generation of Egyptian pioneer artists, those born in the years following the end of the First World War, brought with them vivacity, purpose and strength. Organized into various groups, most important amongst them was the Contemporary Art Group, which counted amongst its number Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, Hamed Nada and Samir Rafi. Formed in 1946, for its founder, Hussein Youssef Amin (1904-1984), contemporary art should invoke deep-rooted values and folk heritage. Amin gathered around him a group of art students, on which the Group's ideas exerted a strong influence. This was demonstrated by the relationship between iconography, style and message in their paintings. At its outset the Group's feeling was that the purpose of art was to move beyond figurative representation and formalist abstraction and instead to express profound and universal concepts. Within the Group were three strands, sometimes reconciled, otherwise not. First, a formalist approach, which embraced new trends in modern art, some of them Western. Second, metaphysical tendencies, expressed by depictions of figures in primitive settings, which evoked a yearning to rediscover nature, stylistically which ties to Surrealism. Third - and this was to become more prevalent in the later development of certain of its members - the expression of more particular Egyptian identity and national character. An early advocate was Hamed Nada who, in seeking to move away from metaphysical and surrealist sympathies towards a synthesis of folk art, forcefully depicted the miserable and oppressed masses. These spoke of the tough times which followed the end of the Second World War, when Egypt experienced a recession such it had never seen. With an exploding population and mass unemployment, a large part of society, rooted in deeply superstitious folk culture, was dipping below the poverty line. Following Nada's example, it is this reality that was also expressed in the works of El-Gazzar and Raffi during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The Group organized five exhibitions in Cairo, Alexandria and Paris. One of these was shown in parallel to the Egyptian-French exhibition in the Louvre. The last of these was in the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art in Cairo. MAHMOUD SAID (EGYPTIEN,1897-1964) Mahmoud Said est né dans une famille aristocratique d'Alexandrie, installée dans le quartier d'Anfouchi, situé près de la mosquée Aboul Abbass El-Moursi. Son père, Mohammed Said Pasha, qui fut premier ministre de son pays et un grand amateur d'art, était également l'oncle de la reine Farida, première épouse du roi Farouk. Said se familiarisa avec l'enseignement des arts plastiques aux côtés des artistes italiens Emilia Fazotano de Foreno, diplômé de l'académie des Beaux-Arts de Florence, et Arturo Zananeri. En 1920, il s'installa à Paris. L'une de ses plus grandes qualités fut de parvenir à adapter les techniques européennes dans sa peinture, tout en maintenant une touche personnelle et typiquement égyptienne. Parmi ses thèmes de prédilection, on retrouve les femmes. Said faisait d'ailleurs souvent appel au même modèle, qu'il s'amusait à représenter comme étant issue de toutes les différentes couches sociales. Mahmoud Said participa à de nombreuses expositions internationales à Venise, Madrid et Alexandrie. Il organisa des expositions à New York, Paris, Rome, Moscou, Alexandrie et au Caire. Il fut le premier artiste à recevoir des mains du président Gamal Abdel Nasser la Médaille du Mérite pour les Arts. MAHMOUD SAID (EGYPTIAN, 1897-1964) Mahmoud Said was born to an aristocratic Alexandrian family which lived in Ansfoushi district in Alexandria, near Al-Moursi Abu'l-Abbas Mosque. His father, Mohammed Said Pasha, Egypt's Prime Minister, was a keen supporter of culture and arts. He was uncle of Queen Farida, King Farouk's first wife. Taught by the Italian artist Emilia Fazotano de Foreno, a resident of Alexandria who had studied at the Florence Academy, Said quickly learnt the classical methods of drawing faces, harmonization of colours and shading. He took further lessons with another Florentine artist, Arturo Zananeri, before leaving for Paris in 1920 for further study. His great innovation was in adapting the techniques of Western painting to express an individual and national character. During these years the National Egyptian Movement flourished as did the formation of an 'Egyptian' character in Egyptian art. A favourite subject in his paintings were women. Said used the same model many times, drawing and painting her in different guises - poor, bourgeois, and aristocratic. Mahmoud Said participated in international exhibitions in Venice, Madrid and Alexandria. He staged exhibitions in New York, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Alexandria and Cairo. He was the first artist to be awarded the State Merit Award for Arts by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul-Nasser.

MAHMOUD SAID (EGYPTIEN, 1897-1964)

El-Norag

Details

MAHMOUD SAID (EGYPTIEN, 1897-1964)
El-Norag
signé 'M. Said' (en bas à droite)
huile sur carton
25,4 x 36 cm. (10 x 14 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Ahmed Mazloum, Alexandrie, à partir de 1936.

Literature

La Semaine Egyptienne, no. 2-4, 31 janvier 1936, no. 94.
Sobhy Al-Sharouny, A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection, The Egyptian Works owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi, Le Caire, 1998, illustré en couleurs p. 105, illustré p. 94, 36/31.

Special notice

" f " : In addition to the regular Buyer’s premium, a commission of 7% (i.e. 7.49% inclusive of VAT for books, 8.372% inclusive of VAT for the other lots) of the hammer price will be charged to the buyer. It will be refunded to the Buyer upon proof of export of the lot outside the European Union within the legal time limit.(Please refer to section VAT refunds)

Further details

EL-NORAG, OIL ON BOARD, SIGNED BY MAHMOUD SAID

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