Mahmoud Said | Pioneer of modern Arab art

Mahmoud Said Bey / حمود سعيد (April 8, 1897 - April 8, 1964) was an Alexandrian judge and modern painter.

Mahmoud Said was born in Alexandria, Egypt; his father, Muhammad Said Pasha, was of Turkish origin and was the former Prime Minister of Egypt.

Queen Farida of Egypt was his niece and she described him as "a quiet, gentle, oppressively timid man".

After receiving his high school diploma, he went on to law school, receiving his degree in 1919.

Between 1919-1921 he traveled through Europe, ultimately studying at the Académie Julian.

He returned to Egypt and worked at the Mixed Courts of Egypt until his father's death in the 1950s.

Between 1919 and his death in 1964, Said was a prolific oil painter.

In Alexandria, he first trained for two years with the Italian painter Amelia Casonato Da Forno from 1912 and later with Arturo Zanieri from 1916.

He often shared the studio of his good friend, the Greek painter Aristomenis Angelopoulos (Αριστομένης Αγγελόπουλος). | © Wikipedia

Mahmoud Said | La Ville, 1937

One of Saïd’s most monumental paintings is La Ville, which now hangs in the main hall of the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo.

It was most probably a commission from the government and displayed at the Egyptian Pavilion of the International Exhibition in Paris in 1937, after which he was awarded a medal of honor.

Saïd’s international exposure extended to America, where he exhibited works in New York in 1936 and 1937, and to Italy, where several of his paintings featured in the Egyptian Pavilion of the Venice Bienniale held in 1938, 1948, 1950 and 1952. | © Christie's

Mahmoud Said (1897-1967) è uno dei più importanti artisti Egiziani moderni.

Mahmud Said ha studiato legge e lavorava come giudice, ma la sua passione era da sempre la pittura, e nel 1947 abbandonò la professione per dedicarsi a dipingere.

Egli è probabilmente il migliore pittore che l'Egitto abbia avuto nei tempi moderni.

Le sue opere riuniscono tecniche occidentali a temi egizi e faraonici, creando quadri sensuali e sorprendenti.

Questa ricerca risulta con particolare chiarezza in alcuni dei suoi intensi autoritratti, che ricordano in modo inequivocabile i celebri Ritratti del Faiyum.

Pur avendo assimilato l'eredità culturale del suo Paese, Said non si è tuttavia sottratto agli influssi europei e americani.

L'eclettica scelta di quadri include ritratti, paesaggi e persino alcune vignette. Uno dei celebri quadri e di grande interesse, ricorda l'Inaugurazione del Canale di Suez, con il Khedive Ismail, Napoleone III e l'imperatrice Eugenia.