Ramses Younan

Galerie Raymond Aghion, Paris 
Private Collection, Paris (acquired directly from the above by the present owner)

Exh. Cat., Cairo, Galerie des Beaux-Arts de Bab El-Louk, Ramses Younan, 1963, illustrated

This work is in very good condition. It has been subject to some restoration. The work has been relined. There are some very fine 15 cm drying line running parallel to the extreme left edge of the composition. The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, with the overall tonality being slightly softer.
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Sotheby’s is very delighted to present a rare work by Egyptian artist Ramses Younan, who was instrumental to the Art and Freedom Movement (jam’aat el fann we el horreya).

Georges Henein–a thinker and writer–founded the group in 1937, as a rebellion to the norms of politics, arts and intelligentsia. The group was also a reactionary movement against the support of Fascism in Europe. Heinen penned the manifesto “Long Live Degenerate Art” which was signed by 37 members of lawyers, artists and intellectuals on December 22, 1938.  The decree stressed the importance of individualism and imagination as the greatest revolutionary force.

The decree was written in both French and Arabic and widely distributed throughout Cairo, it stated:  “We believe that any attempt to confine 
modern art, as certain people wish, to being an instrument at the service 
of a religion, a race or a nation is utterly absurd or is no more than a bad 
joke. As for us these reactionary myths can only be regarded as imprisoning 
the thought. As a generalized exchange system of thoughts and emotions 
which are shared by the whole humanity, art cannot but reject those artificial restrictions.” The manifesto concludes: “We stand for this degenerate art. It is in it that reside all the chances of the future. Let us work 
for its victory over the middle ages which is rising in the very heart of the 
Occident.”

Younan participanted in the first show, hosted on February 1940 at Nile Gallery in Soliman Pasha (Now Midan Talaat Harb).  The show was an extreme departure from the romanticism and idealized vision of the Egyptian pioneer artists such as Mohamed Naghi and Georges Sabbagh. Mahmoud Said, one of the most iconic Egyptian modern artist, lent his support to the group and the show as the guest of honor by including his painting, La Femme aux Boucles d’Or (The woman with the Golden Locks) and his only surrealist painting. Younan was subsequent contributors in the second and third show. The third show was held at the Hotel Continental from May 21 – 30, 1942 and was entitled Message of Free Art.  The last show Younan partook in was held on May 12, 1944 entitled For Independent Art in the dining hall of the Lycée Francais School on Hawayaty Street in Babelouq, Cairo and lasted till May 20, 1944.  The Lycée show was the culminating show for Younan in Cairo. The constant theme to these shows was Surrealism as seen in this painting.

Ramsis Younan was born in al-Minya in Upper Egypt in 1921 and began his career in the arts when he enrolled the School Fine Arts in Cairo in 1929. He continued working in the arts by working as an art teacher in secondary schools in Cairo. Throughout 1933 to 1938, Younan was a regular participant of the group shows entitled Salon Du Caire that was hosted by the Friends of the Fine Arts Society.

Throughout the 1940’s Younan immersed himself in the Art and Freedom movement. Besides his art, Younan was also very much an intellectual. He was keen on raising awareness of modern art in his native Egypt. In 1943 he maintained his status as a prominent critic and writer through the role of editor of El Magalla El Guidida (the new magazine) – a revolutionary and artistic publication.

We begin to see Younan’s exploration with abstract art in his first show in Paris in 1948. This show indicates his move from surrealism into abstraction, nonetheless, his complete immersion into the abstract art scene surfaces upon his return to Cairo from Paris in 1957. Ramsis Younan returned to Cairo following his dismissal from the French Broadcasting services for refusing to broadcast statements against the Egyptian government as a result of the Tripartite attack on Egypt in 1957.

Younan inaugurated the abstract art movement in the 1958 show in Cairo entitled “Toward the Unknown.” Younan’s ability to transition from surrealism to abstract art is a direct expansion of his oeuvre and his aptitude to break away from “the traditional” and established modus operandi of the time.

Quotes:

1st page: 

Hommage to the Painting of Ramses Younan

 

Unwelcome curves

Tenacious invitation to agony

The scene of the drama will never change

It is almost as we are still waiting

This tuberose bouquet

The sign of a darker time

Without which the inexorable blackmail to the night

Would reduce mouths un-rendered

Mouths unsuitable to prediction

Signs of darker times

Prompt to bring backwardness

To human polemics

So that no illusions come and disturb

The solemn rigidity of women

Standing amongst the deaf vaults

 

Narrow Labrabor of love unhinged

 

Georges Henein

Cited in the review “La Séance continue” 

Quote:

2nd spread:

“It is often said that modern art became 
international as a result of colonialism, 
which culturally as well as militarily invades 
the colonized countries, thus destroying 
their traditions and their arts. However, we 
should realize that modern European art 
had been influenced by Eastern and African 
arts before any Eastern or African artist was 
influenced by European art. Therefore, cultural invasion is not the issue. It is rather 
cultural response...  
”