Notes
DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI
"Living intimately within Alexandria's enchanted atmosphere of the 1950s had the greatest effect in forming my artistic consciousness" (Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi).
Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi is perhaps the most important private collector of modern Egyptian art. His collection, amassed over decades and running into several hundred items, represents a complete history of Egyptian art of the twentieth century. As a whole the collection is extraordinary and diverse, but its particular areas of focus make Dr. Farsi's collection truly exceptional. Extensive groups of work by Mahmoud Said, Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar, Hamed Nada and the brothers Seif and Adham Wanly and others are in this sale represented by thirty important works, which include many of the outstanding highlights of this eminent collection.
Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi, one of the Middle East's great patrons of the visual arts, was Mayor of Jeddah from 1972 and later became its first Lord Mayor in 1980. He had a great interest in Egypt's art but at the same time also established close relationships with some of the great names international art, each of whom provided several works for his extensive programme of public works in Jeddah.
It was a time of massive growth for Jeddah and Dr. Farsi's approach was unique, not just to the region but worldwide. Farsi coupled one of the world's largest urban development programmes with beautification through installation of a large number of site-specific monumental sculptures. Around 500 sculptures were commissioned by Arab and international sculptors, which also included works by Miro, Calder, Lipchitz, Arp, Vasarely, Cesar, Hellman, La Fuente, Salah Abdulkarim, Aref El-Rayess and Moore.
Dr. Farsi was born in Mecca Al-Mukarama on 7 January 1935, leaving home in 1956 to study in Egypt, one of only 35 students from all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent abroad for study that year. It was at this point that his love affair with Egypt, and especially Alexandria, was born. Having graduated from the University of Alexandria, Farsi returned to Saudi Arabia, working first in Town Planning before becoming mayor of Jeddah. Farsi continued his studies in Alexandria, receiving several degrees and in 1986, following two heart operations, he resigned from public office and focused his energies on research, receiving a PhD. in Architecture and Town Planning again from Alexandria
Dr. Farsi held many posts and received many accolades. Among them, he was Member of the Haj Supreme Council, Member of Mecca Al-Mukarama Municipal Board, Member of Committe for Drawing Boundaries between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Head of the Administrative Committee of Prince Fawaz Bin Abdulaziz's Project for Housing, Head of the Commission for Housing Distribution in the City of Jeddah.
The passion and dedication which Dr. Farsi brought to his work in Jeddah are the traits that also distinguish his outstanding collection of Modern Egyptian Art. Over the years Dr. Farsi's profound affection for Egypt and most especially Alexandria, found expression in the formation of this astonishing collection.
Dr. Farsi is the only collector of Modern Egyptian Art to have systematically documented the works in his collection, commissioning a then all-inclusive book in 1997, published in 1998, by the critic and scholar Dr. Sobhy Sharouny entitled A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection "The Egyptian Works" Owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi.
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 remodelled along the lines of the most chic European cities. The newly-built boulevards, resembling nothing so much as those of Hausmann 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 the multi-layered reality that is Egypt. The cultural history of Egypt stretches back more than 5000 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-Gamamiz. Among its early students were artist now considered amongst the First Generation of pioneer artists- those to have been born before the turn of the twentieth century, including Ragheb Ayad (1892-1982) and Mahmoud Said (1896-1964). The work 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, prompting Egypt's first truly 'modern' artist, the sculptor Mahmoud Mokhtar (1891-1934), to employ a neo-pharaonic style which emphasised his Egyptian subject matter. Ragheb Ayad's work centres around folk life and the spirituality of the common man. In that of Mahmoud Said comparable motifs recur alongside many other subjects, which include local girls, landscapes and scenes of piety.
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 facism or communism, rocked Egyptian society to the core. Many artists of the Second Generation shunned imagery of the previous generation, which in this new light could carry unintended connotations. The result is that their work is remarkably eclectic. Artists of this generation are often ignored or vilified by historians, yet among their number were a few outstanding talents. Two of the most celebrated painters of this generation are the brothers Seif and Adham Wanly, whose work is represented here. Meanwhile in sculpture Mahmoud Moussa, with his simplified neo-Pharaonic forms, was a suitable heir of Mahmoud Mokhtar.
THE THIRD GENERATION AND THE CONTEMPORARY ART GROUP
Following the end of the Second World 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 with ties to Surrealism.
Third -and this was to become more prevalent in the later development of certain of its members- the expression of a 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 the tough times which followed the end of the Second World War, when Egypt experienced a recession such as it had never seen. With an exploding population and mass unemployment, a large part of society, rooted in a 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 Rafi during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
RAGHEB AYAD (1892-1982)
Known for his poetic treatment of the Egyptian rural environment and for a disctinctive expressive style verging on the caricature, Ragheb Ayad was one of the First Generation of Egyptian pioneer artists and perhaps the first one to rid himself of western influences and in so doing creating a Egyptian modern art with its own distinct identity. His chosen subject matter- the old streets of Cairo, upper Egyptian villages and the small towns, the vibrant souks, moulids, cafes, musicians and dancers- records a way of life that is immediately recognizable as typically Egyptian.
Ragheb Ayad was made responsible for the reorganization of the Coptic Museum in Cairo. He had long been fascinated by Coptic Art and his own work speaks of his familiarity with this ancient culture- his use of strong outline, bold contours and strong use of colour applied as thick patches gives his work a related graphic quality.
Born in Cairo in 1892, Ragheb Ayad was one of the first students at the School of Fine Arts at its opening in 1908. Having graduated he taught art in the Coptic High school and several years of further study in France and then Italy -he was the first student to win a governmental scholarship to Rome- he returned to Cairo in 1930, he became the director of the decorative section of the Faculty of Applied Arts.
Of all the teachers of his generation of Egyptian artists, Ragheb Ayad was almost certainly the most influential. His powerful expressionistic style was much admired by artists of the Second and Third Generation of Egyptian pioneer artists. His long career in teaching ensured that many of the succeeding painters were under his tutelage- he was and from 1937 he was professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts and director of its free section.
The two lots in this sale (lots 1 and 25) are among Ayad's most iconic paintings from his mature period. As an artist who worked mainly on paper, work in oil such as these are extremely rare.
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI
