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Lot Essay
'The elements of the work are depicted realistically and handled so superbly that they are captivating and riveting'
(Dr. S. Al-Sharouny)
The works of Egyptian artist Abdel Hadi El Gazzar continues to challenge historians and collectors alike, long after the artist's death in 1965. His father was a sheikh and religious scholar who moved his family from the Akkabri area of Alexandria when the artist was only fifteen years of age to the bustling lower middle class district of Sayyida Zeinab in Cairo's famed historic Islamic district. Home to Fattimid and Mamluk monuments, the district's famed mosques and shrines were a gathering point for mystics, Sufi groups, and various characters that added colour, life and intrigue to the imagination of inhabitants and visitors alike. Gazzar is likely to have been inspired by his new city as the themes of mysticism and magic are at the core of his body of work.
Although he came from a modest background, he was granted several scholarships to study abroad. He was one of the original members of the Contemporary Art Group that was founded in 1944. Along with the artists Hamed Nada and Samir Rafi, Gazzar sought to rid Egyptian art of the aesthetics imposed by Western art. In doing so, he incorporated symbols derived from Egyptian folk culture and popular mystic philosophy into his pictorial vernacular. He hence created a unique series of motifs which he regularly used in his works to position the very notion of Egyptian cultural identity, and of Egyptian arts and crafts. Gazzar's magical realism arguably had its roots in the surrealist movement of the Art and Liberty Group founded by George Henein in the early 1940s, which greatly influenced Gazzar at the beginning of his artistic education.
Christie's is delighted to offer at auction a rare preparatory yet very complete charcoal sketch of Gazzar's infamous work World of Love. This meticulous drawing was acquired by its current owner upon the recommendation of the iconic critic Aimé Azar who advised her to buy it when it was exhibited in Cairo in the early 1980s.
Gazzar's World of Love refers to a classical subject in line with baroque-era painting. Yet the universal subject of love is personalized to its Egyptian context with Gazzar's inclusion of symbols and additional details to place the scene in a purely local Egyptian narrative. Although the charcoal drawing was rigorously replicated in the painting, a few minor details were added to the latter, such as a gold hoop earring on the male figure, the gold ornamentation that hangs from the woman's head, and the fact that only one egg appears underneath the hen. Yet the present lot is a work on its own replete with intricate details, and imbued with Gazzar's unique artistry.
The composition of the scene is simple overall: in the foreground, a man and a woman sit back to back at the centre of a room. The man timidly stares at the veiled woman, both apparently shy in their love for one another. A wide array of symbols surround them, emphasizing the intensity of their relationship. The man holds a snake in his right hand whilst a hen and two eggs lie in a basket by the woman as she clutches a sheaf of wheat. In the background, a man on the left is seen prostrating in prayer, and another woman is seen in an arched doorway close to the praying man. At the other end of the room on the right, a veiled woman stands next to a traditionally Egyptian carved wooden bench, as she looks towards the worshipper. Referring to Gazzar's World of Love, art critic Sobhy El Sharouny described that the artist examined 'the eternal spring of life amidst superstitions, belief in metaphysical powers, and the mysterious world of the psyche; aspects uncovered by Freud and his psychoanalyst followers.' (Dr. S. Sharouny,Abdel Hadi Al-Gazzar, Cairo 2007, p. 73).
Following Sharouny's explanation, the snake symbolizes man's lecherous lust for the sensual, and women's urgent desire to bear children. The chick, eggs and sheaf of wheat represent fertility. This simplistic analysis of Gazzar's symbols unavoidably undermines the master's great ingenuity in his articulation and inclusion of such cultural motifs, yet their hidden meanings enhance the mystery of the painting, that remains open to interpretation. Gazzar considered women to be the pinnacle of purity and beauty found in this world. By representing the two figures opposite one another, Gazzar draws our attention to the woman, identified as the source of creation, and not to the man and snake, generally considered as being ugly according to the traditional Egyptian reading of snakes.
Sharouny argued that the subject matter World of Love is important due to its surrealist spirit being given coherence and order, although a sense of irony and intrigue still prevails. The identity of the three figures in the background cannot be concluded, but the glances exchanged between the couple confirms that their relationship is sincere and that the absurdist nature of surrealism does not supersede the reality of their love. The way they physically support one another as they rest back to back in addition to the point of contact of their elbows, further underlines their concrete love. Furthermore, the evil eye appears to be repelled off the couple by Gazzar's inclusion of drawings of palms on the walls behind them. One of the artist's most idiosyncratic touches is the oversize hands and feet giving them a rough appearance, hinting to the couple's working class background. Although the source of light is not clear, light emanates from various points in the painting, enhancing the work's unparalleled symbolism and multi-layered meanings, inherent to Gazzar's oeuvre.
(Dr. S. Al-Sharouny)
The works of Egyptian artist Abdel Hadi El Gazzar continues to challenge historians and collectors alike, long after the artist's death in 1965. His father was a sheikh and religious scholar who moved his family from the Akkabri area of Alexandria when the artist was only fifteen years of age to the bustling lower middle class district of Sayyida Zeinab in Cairo's famed historic Islamic district. Home to Fattimid and Mamluk monuments, the district's famed mosques and shrines were a gathering point for mystics, Sufi groups, and various characters that added colour, life and intrigue to the imagination of inhabitants and visitors alike. Gazzar is likely to have been inspired by his new city as the themes of mysticism and magic are at the core of his body of work.
Although he came from a modest background, he was granted several scholarships to study abroad. He was one of the original members of the Contemporary Art Group that was founded in 1944. Along with the artists Hamed Nada and Samir Rafi, Gazzar sought to rid Egyptian art of the aesthetics imposed by Western art. In doing so, he incorporated symbols derived from Egyptian folk culture and popular mystic philosophy into his pictorial vernacular. He hence created a unique series of motifs which he regularly used in his works to position the very notion of Egyptian cultural identity, and of Egyptian arts and crafts. Gazzar's magical realism arguably had its roots in the surrealist movement of the Art and Liberty Group founded by George Henein in the early 1940s, which greatly influenced Gazzar at the beginning of his artistic education.
Christie's is delighted to offer at auction a rare preparatory yet very complete charcoal sketch of Gazzar's infamous work World of Love. This meticulous drawing was acquired by its current owner upon the recommendation of the iconic critic Aimé Azar who advised her to buy it when it was exhibited in Cairo in the early 1980s.
Gazzar's World of Love refers to a classical subject in line with baroque-era painting. Yet the universal subject of love is personalized to its Egyptian context with Gazzar's inclusion of symbols and additional details to place the scene in a purely local Egyptian narrative. Although the charcoal drawing was rigorously replicated in the painting, a few minor details were added to the latter, such as a gold hoop earring on the male figure, the gold ornamentation that hangs from the woman's head, and the fact that only one egg appears underneath the hen. Yet the present lot is a work on its own replete with intricate details, and imbued with Gazzar's unique artistry.
The composition of the scene is simple overall: in the foreground, a man and a woman sit back to back at the centre of a room. The man timidly stares at the veiled woman, both apparently shy in their love for one another. A wide array of symbols surround them, emphasizing the intensity of their relationship. The man holds a snake in his right hand whilst a hen and two eggs lie in a basket by the woman as she clutches a sheaf of wheat. In the background, a man on the left is seen prostrating in prayer, and another woman is seen in an arched doorway close to the praying man. At the other end of the room on the right, a veiled woman stands next to a traditionally Egyptian carved wooden bench, as she looks towards the worshipper. Referring to Gazzar's World of Love, art critic Sobhy El Sharouny described that the artist examined 'the eternal spring of life amidst superstitions, belief in metaphysical powers, and the mysterious world of the psyche; aspects uncovered by Freud and his psychoanalyst followers.' (Dr. S. Sharouny,Abdel Hadi Al-Gazzar, Cairo 2007, p. 73).
Following Sharouny's explanation, the snake symbolizes man's lecherous lust for the sensual, and women's urgent desire to bear children. The chick, eggs and sheaf of wheat represent fertility. This simplistic analysis of Gazzar's symbols unavoidably undermines the master's great ingenuity in his articulation and inclusion of such cultural motifs, yet their hidden meanings enhance the mystery of the painting, that remains open to interpretation. Gazzar considered women to be the pinnacle of purity and beauty found in this world. By representing the two figures opposite one another, Gazzar draws our attention to the woman, identified as the source of creation, and not to the man and snake, generally considered as being ugly according to the traditional Egyptian reading of snakes.
Sharouny argued that the subject matter World of Love is important due to its surrealist spirit being given coherence and order, although a sense of irony and intrigue still prevails. The identity of the three figures in the background cannot be concluded, but the glances exchanged between the couple confirms that their relationship is sincere and that the absurdist nature of surrealism does not supersede the reality of their love. The way they physically support one another as they rest back to back in addition to the point of contact of their elbows, further underlines their concrete love. Furthermore, the evil eye appears to be repelled off the couple by Gazzar's inclusion of drawings of palms on the walls behind them. One of the artist's most idiosyncratic touches is the oversize hands and feet giving them a rough appearance, hinting to the couple's working class background. Although the source of light is not clear, light emanates from various points in the painting, enhancing the work's unparalleled symbolism and multi-layered meanings, inherent to Gazzar's oeuvre.