Mahmoud Said

Antoine Nahas, Cairo (by the 1950s; Nahas was an architect and teacher at Fouad I university)
Gallerie Arabesque, Cairo 
Purchased directly from the above by the present owner in 1981

Catalogue de la retrospective des oeuvres de Mahmoud Said, 1921-1951, exhib. cat., Guezireh, no. 105

This work is in good condition. The panel is even and smooth. Some minor paint loss along side, the upper and lower edges. A minor chip is noticeable on the center right of the painting. This painting is in good original condition, and its appearance could be further enhanced if desired with a surface clean. The colours in the catalogue illustration are accurate, with the overall tonality being more luminous and less saturated in the orginal 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.
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“In these simple rugged souls, an inner life makes itself known; a life Mahmoud Said understands and to which he gives expression through their faces. Feeling -- calm, secretive, intense -- blossoms from their full lips through which pass, barely noticed, shadows of desire or of regret; feeling that betrays itself in the sorrow and lassitude of their features, and through their gazes: those long gazes, heavy under lowered lids, slow caresses laden with promise, exquisite outpourings of sensual tenderness.”

This magnificent painting is an iconic embodiment of Mahmoud Said's nudes. Nu aux bracelets d’Or is a testament to his daring reverence of the female form and has remained in private hands since it was painted.

Said's nudes are not immediately associated with power and politics, at first glance they are simply celebrations of the female form; their languorous bodies glowing with light, their Rubenesque curves both a testament to Said's European education and his own predilections. However, in Said's lifetime the nude was a fierce political statement. The figure in and of itself was considered to be in direct opposition to accepted religious dogma, a perception that was still held by many. Even more fiercely adhered to, was the opinion that the nude figure was an absolute taboo, most especially the female form. Being a relative of Queen Farida, and born into an aristocratic family, Said circumvented these rules and push the boundaries of artistic practice in Egypt.

Said reveres his sitter by focusing on her form, her pose, her skin and face. He paints her, as she is, an Egyptian woman with characteristic full lips, high cheekbones and dusky skin, choosing to highlight the Odalisque's command of her own sensuality without sacrificing the romance of her character.

The rich palette of this painting draws on the exotic colours of Egypt, accentuating Said's affinity for the distinctive colours of the Middle East. Orientalist painters, such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, would travel and experiment for years to find this balance of colours, but for Said it was a natural development. Here he draws the composition together with a royal blue hinted in his Odalisque's skin tones and reflected in the colour of her surroundings. His understanding of light and shadow, so idiosyncratic, is emphasised by the shadows across her body and face, and the distinctive luminosity of her skin.

Mahmoud Said considered women to be a source of existential power, as wives, as mothers and as revolutionaries, as such he represented them as symbols of Egypt's national identity. His nudes are a testament to the radical zeitgeist of the period, and are important both as a historical record and artistic development.