Seif Wanly (Egyptian, 1906-1979)

'[Seif Wanly] is the matchless artist in his dexterities, in his visual and plastic vocabulary. A limitless domain from landscape to portrait, from subject to abstract, and in all his artworks there was a stout presence of unique originality, a main presence of a profound historical and human culture'.
(Professor Dr. Sabry Hegazy quoted).

The four works by Alexandrian painter Seif Wanly included in Christie's auction this season reflect Dr. Hegazy's statement, offering an exceptional insight into the artist's eclectic style, palette and subject matters. Having learned to draw and paint in the studio of the Italian artist Ottorino Becchi in Alexandria, Seif Wanly was exposed to Western art and introduced many of its elements to Modern Egyptian painting, yet always remaining faithful to his nation, just like Mahmoud Saïd. Wanly's stylistic diversity is showcased in these four masterpieces, from a Cubist tendency in the composition with women and in the still life, to an almost abstract style in The Bullfight and finally to his violently bright colours characteristic of his Nubian period. Nonetheless, they all convey the painter's sensitivity to his fellow Western artists and show how Seif purposely omitted any superfluous details of objects as well as simplifying human facial features, in order to capture the spirit of the scene through colour and composition.