Mohamed Abo Khalil Lotfy

Private Collection, Egypt

This work is in good condition. There are minor losses of paints running alongside the upper edge. There is a water mark running along the left quadrant of the lower edge of the composition. There is a 2mm indent in the middle of the bottom edge of the painting. The canvas is slightly slack at the top right corner tip. The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, with the overall tonality being softer in the original work. The blacks tend towards darker brown hues.
"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."

Sotheby’s is honored to be offering a rare work by the Egyptian artist Mohamed Abo Khalil Lotfy. Pre-eminent Egyptian art critic Aime Azar coupled Lofty with Egyptian art group The Independents, a group without a group. Unlike the Contemporary Art Group led by Hussein Youssef Amin, and the Freedom Group led by Georges Henein, The Independents did not band together around a single leader and began to cultivate their own abstraction from the 1960s onwards.

Lotfy was born in Cairo in 1920. After graduating from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1944, he further continued his studies at Ohio University in 1949 and at New York University from 1950 to 1953. Lotfy’s work was heavily focused on abstraction and the use of tonality in colours. He is celebrated for his deft mastery of the colors black, yellow and ivory, combined with his investigation, as seen in the present work, into various vertical and horizontal lines as juxtaposed with systematic circular points to illustrate the precision of his technique. Lotfy found serenity in his practice and the correlation between the intricacies of linear formation to the existential theories of life.