Footnotes

TWO RARE AND MAGNIFICENT WORKS BY FOUAD KAMEL FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST'S NIECE

Provenance:
Property from the artists niece, Egypt
Originally in the collection of the artist's sister, Kadria Kamel

"Between death and everlasting life there is a fierce battle producing a most dreadful mutilation which I encounter in my paintings. Indeed, into the depths of everything a spirit is creeping, even into the inanimate" – Fouad Kamel

Piercing, acerbic and magnificent, Fouad Kamel's brazen compositions of a surrealist figures are a confident, bold and technically masterful example of the Art and Liberty movements incredible artistic output. Ghoulish, otherworldly and distorted, his figures nevertheless demonstrate a sense of vigour and strength. The present works come from the distinguished collection of the artists family, having originally been painted for his sister Kadria, who was one of Fouad's principal muses

The First composition, "Warhorse" is a symbol of power and voluptuousness, of aggressive carnality, and tramples over a chaotic morass of figures and objects, recalling Dali's ghoulish rampant horse figure in the seminal "Temptation of St Anthony". In the subsequent, a mischievous Demon with a reptilian body carries noxious poison in a cauldron, a symbol of witchcraft and sorcery, its snake like form reminiscent of Ancient Egyptian devil deities and its red colour associated with the malicious spirits in folk Egyptian culture which the famous "Zaar" ceremony sought to expel.

The Egyptian Surrealist movement, "Art E Liberte", was founded by George Henein with a group of Egyptian and expatriate avant-garde artists in protest against Fascist and Nazi anti-art sentiment. They called their art 'decadent', in support of the poet Andre Breton, and his statement, signed by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, "Towards an Independent Art".

A number of Egyptian artists, including Fouad Kamel, Rameses Younan and Kamel el-Telmesany, in addition to a great number of Egyptian and expatriate intellectuals, signed a statement prepared by poet George Henein, entitled "Long Live Decadent Art!" It was published in Al-Fann Al-Hurr (Free Art) magazine in December 1938.

The presence of many foreign artists, poets, writers and critics in Egypt at the time played a crucial role in spreading an air of liberation and the dissemination of Socialist thought; George Henein, with his refined French education, was the link between these Egyptianized expatriates and the artists of Egypt.

This society was in contact with the worldwide Surrealist movement, headed by Andre Breton in France; no sooner had the Art and Liberty society formed, than those in power began to put all their weight into crushing the fledgling groups. However, the group's members clung tenaciously to their position.

They rebelled against the current artistic, social and political situation, and called for the overthrow of widespread norms, and for individualist thought and freedom in the face of obedience and subordination. This group may be credited with sparking the rebellion against academic stagnation and the reduction of art to a craft governed by prescriptive rules. With their refined culture, deep faith and heroic sacrifices, they managed to attract a large number of talented artists to their cause, and with this Surrealism flourished in Egypt.