Lot 11
  • 11

Mahmoud Said

Estimate
35,000 - 45,000 GBP
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Description

  • Mahmoud Said
  • Venice
  • oil on panel
  • 21 by 27.2cm.; 8 1/4 by 10 3/4 in.
  • Executed in 1920.

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by the previous owner
Thence by descent

Condition

Condition: This work is in good condition. There are two very minor spots on centre top. Colour: The catalogue illustration is accurate; but the colours are sharper in the actual work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This important painting by Mahmoud Said is one of only two recorded works by the artist depicting the city of Venice, it is one of his earliest surviving paintings and is a rare documentation of his European travels.

Mahmoud Said is known for his remarkable use of light and colour, his paintings often described as 'glowing from within', he eschews accepted modes of lighting, preferring to burnish the skin of his sitters with a shimmer from an unrecognised light source. This love-affair with light was no doubt instilled in him by his own city of Alexandria, but also by his first teacher, the Florentine Emilha Fazotano de Foreno. Florence is known for dramatic sunsets that gild the city at dusk, and bathe it in an idiosyncratic rose glow; but it is Venice that is renowned for the crystalline quality of its atmosphere, and Venetian artists that are synonymous with the manipulation of light and luminosity.

This painting is not only an exceptional record of Said's travels through Europe, providing documentary evidence for his time there, but provides a glimpse into what Said would have seen and experienced in his time abroad. Doubtless he visited Venice's museums and churches and would have been informed by artists such as Titian, the unparalleled master of light.

The Renaissance movement in Venice was fairly isolated from the rest of Italy, and its artists were inspired by the city's unique geography, the play of light on water, and the quality of light in the air. It is interesting to note that Alexandria, Mahmoud Said's home town shares to some extent the aspects of light and atmosphere that make Venice so unique; and it is this that led artists such as Veronese and Titian to paint skin with the sort of radiance that is also found in Said's nudes.