03 Paintings, Middle East Artists, Mahmoud Saïd's Fishermen, with Footnotes, #71

Mahmoud Saïd (Egyptian, 1897-1964) 

LE RETOUR DE PÊCHE (Fishing Returns), c. 1950

Oil on panel

35.5 by 37cm.; 14 by 14 1/2 in.

Private Collection

There is no doubt that the city of Alexandria had a resounding effect on the oeuvre of Mahmoud Said. A native of this great city, a number of Said’s paintings revolving around the rough seas and fishermen can be attributed to his hometown.  Undeniably the most prominent example is La Pêche Miraculeuse from 1933, which is currently housed in the Egyptian Embassy in Washington D.C.  Like the ships in the foreground aimlessly wandering the rough seas for the catch of the day, this theme of the search and the catch is also depicted very strongly in the present work Le Retour de Pêche. This stunning painting by Said is emblematic of the Alexandrian fishermen, who to this day can be seen on the eastern harbour of Alexandria, preparing their wooden boats to take on the rough seas. More on this painting

Mahmoud Saïd (Egyptian, 1897-1964) 

La Pêche Miraculeuse (Miraculous Fishing ), c. 1933

Oil on canvas

90 x 120cm

Private Collection

Mahmoud Saïd (Egyptian, 1897-1964) 

Pêcheurs à Rashid, Fishermen at Rashid (Rosetta), c. 1941

Oil on panel

34.25 in. (87.00 cm.) (height) by 50.39 in. (128.00 cm.) (width)

Private Collection

Rosetta or Rashid is a port city of the Nile Delta, 65 km (40 mi) east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Rosetta Stone was discovered there in 1799.

Founded around in the 9th century, Rosetta boomed with the decline of Alexandria following the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, only to wane in importance after Alexandria's revival. During the 19th century, it was a popular British tourist destination, known for its Ottoman mansions, citrus groves and relative cleanliness. More on Rosetta or Rashid

Mahmoud Said, 1897-1964, EGYPTIAN. Born into a wealthy Alexandrian family, Mahmoud Said first studied jurisprudence at the French School of Law in Cairo in the 1910s. During his studies, he became interested in painting, and joined the studios of Italian painters Amelia Casonato da Forno and Arturo Zanieri, before travelling to France to study in Paris, briefly at the Académie Julian. Though he worked for almost thirty years as a lawyer and then a judge, he continued to paint in his free time until he quit law in the late 1940s and devoted himself to art completely. He is considered the foremost painter of the ‘Pioneer’ generation of Egyptian artists, renowned for his bold, richly coloured portraits, nudes, and landscapes. He painted continuously until his death in 1964.

Said’s works are housed in private and public collections including Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Museum of Modern Egyptian Art, Cairo; Mahmoud Said Museum, Alexandria, and Ministry of Culture, Egypt. More on Mahmoud Saïd

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.

02 Paintings, Middle East Artists, Abdulhalim Radwi's UNTITLED, with Footnotes, #70

Abdulhalim Radwi, 1939 - 2006, SAUDI

UNTITLED, c. 1996

Oil on canvas

91 by 117cm.; 35 3/4 by 46in.

Private Collection

In Untitled, Radwi captures the vibrancy of the city. He depicts a futurist city landscape blending traditional Ottoman architecture with a contemporary one. The strong focus on the architectural façade is highlighted by the various shades of blue. These colourful geometric shapes are a testament to his time spent in Europe and the influence of Cubism. He combined these inspirations with a traditional subject matter to create an image that conveys the magnificence and atmosphere of the old-town Jeddah's unique in style and execution. The treatment of his canvases with the swift and unstructured movements of his palette knife is reminiscent of many of the European modernists. More on this painting

Abdulhalim Radwi (1939-2006)

HART AL SHAM (AL SHAM DISTRICT, JEDDAH), c. 1985

Oil on canvas

92 by 122cm.; 36 1/4 by 48in

Private Collection

Jeddah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia and the country's commercial center. With a population of about 4,697,000 people as of 2021, Jeddah is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest city in Hejaz, the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital Riyadh), and the tenth-largest in the Middle East. Jeddah Islamic Port, on the Red Sea, is the thirty-sixth largest seaport in the world and the second-largest and second-busiest seaport in the Middle East. More on Jeddah

Originally from Makkah, Abdulhalim Radwi (1939-2006) was a painter, poet and sculptor in Jeddah and a pioneer of contemporary arts in Saudi Arabia. He was one of the first Saudis to go abroad for an art education and held a BA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome (1964).

Radwi started his career as a teacher of fine arts in Makkah but became involved with the arts on a governmental level. From 1968-1974 he was director of the Jeddah Centre for Fine Arts and later (1980-1992) Director-General of the Culture and Arts of the City of Jeddah. In 1973 Radwi spent time in Madrid were he was Action Director of the Association of Arab Artists. In 1979 Radwi graduated from the Royal Arts Academy in Madrid. He was awarded many art prizes and honors while he spent much time abroad organizing as many as 105 exhibitions. His family maintain a website of his work, which can also be seen in museums of modern art in Jordan, Brazil, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia.

Radwi's paintings dealt mostly with Saudi lifestyle and he is said to have believed that Saudi artists must always keep an eye on their national identity. His two personal favorite paintings were The Recitation of Qur’an, which won a prize at the 1988 Biennale in Spain, and Old Buildings in Makkah, which he refused to sell for half a million Saudi riyals and kept in his personal museum in Jeddah. More on Abdulhalim Radwi

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.