Adam Henein was born in Cairo in 1929 to a family of metalworkers; his father’s practice of the applied arts were likely the source of Henein’s appreciation for the beauty of everyday objects, which has characterised his oeuvre from the outset. Henein was trained as a sculptor at Cairo’s Academy of Fine Arts, receiving his degree in 1953. He then spent two months on a scholarship at the State’s Luxor Studio, where he was immersed in life on the banks of the River Nile, surrounded by ancient temples and necropoles. In 1971, Henein travelled to Paris to participate in an exhibition on contemporary Egyptian art, a visit that ended up lasting twenty-five years and kickstarting his international career. It was here that the artist was able to absorb the sculptural spirit of Constantin Brâncusi, Alberto Giacometti, and Henry Moore. However, despite the alluring current of European modernism, Henein remained mostly impervious to Western schools of art and faithful to his beloved ancient Egypt, which he reimagined in a more modernist vernacular.

His stylised figures draw on the ancient Egyptian sculptural tradition by reducing their forms and denoting their features through the use of subtle lines and modulations to capture their essence. The form of Harraniya (The Reader) has been revisited by the artist and rendered in various mediums, including gypsum and dark-patinated bronze.

A testament to his achievement as a sculptor, from 1989 to 1998 Henein was appointed by Farouk Hosny, then Egyptian Minister of Culture, to head the restoration of the Great Sphinx of Giza. He has been exhibited internationally, and his works acquired by institutional collections across the Middle East and the United States. In 2014, the eponymous Adam Henein Museum opened in Cairo, which remains a valued cultural facility. Two renditions of Harraniya (The Reader) are housed in its collection.