Lot Essay
Seif Wanly and his brother Adham were two of the most celebrated of the Alexandrian painters. Both had an interest in European subjects as much as Egyptian, and their works are strikingly advanced in that they anticipated trends in contemporary Western art before many of their contemporaries. They both studied together under the Italian artist Bechi, before setting up a studio together. They exhibited jointly until Adham's death in 1959. Seif continued to paint, and his many expressive and colourful paintings are among the gems of twentieth century Egyptian art.