MAHMOUD SAID (EGYPTIAN, 1897-1964)

The languid poise of the model sums up all of the glamour of a bygone era. Egypt in the early 1930s was the most sophisticated destination in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the previous thirty years, much of Cairo and Alexandria had been remodelled along the line of the most chic European cities. Alexandria, home of Mahmoud Said, was then an international city, with a most cosmopolitan population and a thriving commercial centre.

Compared to the previous lot, painted fifteen years later, one can see marked differences in style. Mahmoud Said's handling of line and shade in his earlier work is markedly more graphic, whereas his later work is characterized by subtle modulations in colour and tone.
The whereabouts of this painting was unknown for many decades.

Another version of the same subject was purchased by the was purchased by Hassan El Zayat, the late Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and now is now in the collection of the Egyptian Embassy in New York.