Mahmoud Said Museum

6 Mohamed Said Pasha St

About

A scion of the Egyptian royal family, Mahmoud Said (1897-1964) spent most of his life working as judge, not a painter. It was only when he retired at the age of 50 that he was able to devote himself to art. By then he had absorbed a good deal of cubism and social realism, and these both came through powerfully in his work. He painted scenes from a range of settings around Egypt, from whirling Sufi dancers to prostitutes, in warm, earthy tones. Said was far from a towering artistic talent -- his importance lies much more in the way that he used European techniques in rendering Egyptian subjects -- but the museum dedicated to him, which is in his columned Italianate villa, is still worth a visit.

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