- El-Gazzar is a leading figure in modern Egyptian art of the 20th
century - This catalogue raisonné, is dedicated to the artist's
paintings and graphic works, archives and photographs El-Gazzar, born in
1925 in Alexandria, is a leading figure in modern Egyptian art of the
20th century. He enrolled in the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1944
and then joined the Contemporary Art Group founded by Hussein Youssef
Amin, his master. With an innovative and unique expressionist style, it
portrays the people of Cairo in a folkloric way. Later, he tried his
hand at abstraction by representing industrial machines and their
effects on humans. Recognized during his lifetime, the production of
El-Gazzar was exhibited in France from 1949, at the Venice Biennale in
1952 and at the São Paulo Museum in 1953. Today, his works are in
private collections in Cairo, Alexandria, Rome, Paris and Brussels, but
also in major institutions around the world, such as the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York or the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. This
catalogue raisonné, published in English, comprises two volumes. The
first is dedicated to the artist's paintings and the second to graphic
works, archives and photographs. It brings an understanding of the
enigmatic work of the artist, but also of modern Egyptian art in
general.
