Footnotes

THE KAPSALIS ARCHIVE: A PRICELESS AND EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF ARTWORKS, LETTERS, SKETCHES AND PERSONAL DOCUMENTS FROM SEIF AND ADHAM WANLY

Provenance:
Property from the collection of the Kapsalis family, Greece
Acquired when the family were living in Alexandria, Egypt


"Dear Seif
To-day it is Edhams birthday: he is with us more than ever. Please give him some bunches of violets: he loved violets. I wish I could wire some violets but I cant. As soon as I can, I will go to the zoo and I will feed the llamas and the bears and the monkeys and speak to them, as Edham liked them and I too. Take care of yourself for our and his sake, as he took care of us.....
Grievingly yours
Fanny
25th February 1960"

The Kapsalis Archive is one of the most astonishing and remarkable collections of its kind. A priceless compendium of artworks, personal correspondences, exhibition ephemera, postcards, drawings, studies and sketches spanning several years of the Wanly brothers illustrious careers, it provides an extraordinary insight into the most intimate aspects of their personal lives, as well as painting a vignette of the charm and excitement of cosmopolitan Alexandria in the 1950's

The Archive, which contains over a hundred separate articles, spans an immense range of material. Dozens of anatomical studies emulating the work of renowned artists like Degas, Matisse and Boucher, evidence the Wanly brothers keen awareness and appreciation of European artistic trends. A set of portrait paintings and pastels serve as incredible artworks in their own right, marvellous and expressive examples from the artists atelier. Dozens of postcards and personal correspondences give us an incomparably intimate insight into the personal sphere of the two artists, most notably the tragic love story of Adham Wanly and his English lover Fanny Erzesky, whose tender and passionate love letters end with dismay and tragedy when she learns of Adham's premature passing

Rarely do collectors get the opportunity to acquire a group of works with such deep biographical penetration. Offered in raw format, with dozens of untranslated Arabic letters and documents, the collection presents a significant opportunity for further research and rightly deserves to be meticulously studied, researched and contextualised so that it can serve as a vital resource in understanding the lives and careers of two of Egypt's most prolific artists

SEIF AND ADHAM WANLY

Seif and Adham Wanly were prolific artists who truly embodied the spirit of cosmopolitan Alexandria. Their early works were inspired by the use of the light and gentle strokes of his Italian professor, Ottorino Bicchi, who was close to the Italian Macchiaioli and the École de Barbizon. Later in their career, Seif and Adham used larger surfaces of bold colors and exercised greater freedom in compositions, bringing them closer to Fauvism.

Seif and Adham were fascinated by the performing arts and depicted scenes of circus, ballet, opera, music concerts, bull-fighting as well as all types of sports, including horse races. They represented the life of the performers on stage and backstage by expressing their vivid and dynamic movements.

Their fascination with performance arts also led him to design several sets for theater and opera productions in Egypt. They painted numerous views of traditional Nubian villages before they were flooded, as well as many landscapes of Egypt and all the countries they visited, including Spain, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland and Russia. Seif and Adham were also known for their series of self-portraits that reflect a sense of humor and self-derision. Following the death of his brother, Adham, which affected him profoundly, Seif introduced a darker palette of colors and shades to his paintings.

Their works can be seen at the Seif and Adham Wanly Museum hosted in the villa of the Mahmoud Saïd Museum in Alexandria, the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria, the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art in Cairo, the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, as well as in numerous private collections around the world.

In 1940 Seif and Adham Wanly setup a studio that was open to the public and any-one interested in the arts. Together, they participated in more than 17 exhibitions, notably in the Biennale of Venice and in São Paulo, Brazil. In the late 1950s, the Wanly's travelled to Nubia to produce a series of paintings and drawings portraying life in Upper Egypt for a governmental project to document culture and conditions prior to the relocation that occurred to enable construction of the Aswan High Dam.

Seif was honored by several awards: Mukhtar Award in Oil Painting in 1936, Richard Award (Golden Lash) in 1949, Medal of the Asian and African Arts Exhibition in Cairo in 1956, the State Promotional Prize in Art in 1973, the Golden Medal and Order Science & Art in 1974. He got the 1st prize in Oil Painting at the Egyptian Pavilion, the 3rd Alexandria Biennale and was awarded the key of Alexandria.

Today an entire floor of the Mahmoud Said Museum in Alexandria is dedicated to Seif and his brother Adham Wanly.