Marguerite NAKHLA (1908-1977) - Lot 244

Marguerite NAKHLA (1908-1977) Mount of Olives, Jerusalem, 1974 Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. Situated and dated on the back. 65 x 84 cm MARGUERITE NAKHLA (1908-1977) Thirty years after her death, with the publication of her first monograph in 2009, Marguerite Nakhla is finally taking her place on the art scene. This Egyptian artist from the Coptic community was long ignored in her own country, and it is only recently that she has achieved international recognition. Born in Alexandria in 1908, Nakhla was the first female Egyptian artist to attend the École Nationale des Beaux-arts in Paris in 1934 (to 1939). She returned to Paris in 1948-1951, to study muralism and fresco art at the École du Louvre. During these stays, she painted Parisian life, the atmosphere of workshops and Sunday scenes in the Luxembourg Gardens in a style reminiscent of both Fauves and Expressionism, as evidenced by our collection. She also painted Egyptian society, Coptic culture and the human condition in a style she liked to describe as "popular". Now recognized as a central figure of the Alexandria School, her works are held at the St Mark Coptic Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo and in several private collections.