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Lot Essay
Painted in 1964, Ramses Younan’s Untitled is a striking work from the artist’s abstract series in which forms dissolve and merge imbued with warm colours reminiscent of Egyptian landscapes. Starting from an initial improvisation, he would develop and refine the surface of his paintings to produce complex abstract compositions. Enhanced by the transparency of thinned oil paint, Younan highlights the tactile nature and painterly quality of the medium through gestural brushwork and rough edges.
A prominent figure in twentieth-century modernism, Ramses Younan, a painter, writer, and political activist, was born in Miniyeh, Egypt. In 1938, he became one of the co-signatories of the manifesto ‘Long Live Degenerate Art’, endorsed by thirty-seven artists and intellectuals, predominantly from Cairo. That same year, Younan, along with poet and journalist Georges Henein, founded the Art and Liberty Group, a collective of intellectuals and artists primarily aligned with Surrealism. The group maintained strong connections with their international counterparts, including figures like American photographer Lee Miller and French writer André Breton. This cross-cultural exchange played a pivotal role in introducing Surrealism to Egyptian art history, ultimately paving the way for the development of Egyptian Surrealism. This sought to break free from the established styles of artists like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, emphasising the necessity of a Surrealist expression that allowed for radical and subconscious dreaming, characterising moral and social revolution.
A prominent figure in twentieth-century modernism, Ramses Younan, a painter, writer, and political activist, was born in Miniyeh, Egypt. In 1938, he became one of the co-signatories of the manifesto ‘Long Live Degenerate Art’, endorsed by thirty-seven artists and intellectuals, predominantly from Cairo. That same year, Younan, along with poet and journalist Georges Henein, founded the Art and Liberty Group, a collective of intellectuals and artists primarily aligned with Surrealism. The group maintained strong connections with their international counterparts, including figures like American photographer Lee Miller and French writer André Breton. This cross-cultural exchange played a pivotal role in introducing Surrealism to Egyptian art history, ultimately paving the way for the development of Egyptian Surrealism. This sought to break free from the established styles of artists like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, emphasising the necessity of a Surrealist expression that allowed for radical and subconscious dreaming, characterising moral and social revolution.