The fifth round of the Treasures of Our Art Museums exhibition series opened at the Arts Complex in Aisha Fahmy Palace, Zamalek, under the title "Selections of European Art". It was inaugurated by Culture Minister Ines Abdel-Dayem, Ambassador of Spain Ramon Gil Casares, the Spanish Cultural Consul in Cairo Candio Carbis Estrada, Head of the Fine Arts Sector Khaled Sorour, together with artist Ihab Al-Labban, director of the complex, and a number of visual artists, and critics. It is an exceptional display showing over 100 art works from the acquisitions of the Gezira Museum, the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria, ranging from oil painting to sculpture with an impressive array of iconic international artists including Paul Gauguin, Rodin, Claude Manet, Edward Manet, Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas represented, a real opportunity to learn about and link the movements that dominated Europe in 20th century. It is worth noting that the Zamalek Arts Complex has previously presented four art exhibitions within the "Treasures of Our Museums" series, the first of which came in May 2017, and included a selection of the most important international art works possessed by Egypt's various museums. The second exhibition, entitled “Masterpieces of Coptic and Islamic Textiles,” included treasures from from the Gezira Museum's holdings, 61 of them being shown for the first time. The third exhibition “Features of an Era” presented a rare collection of art works that document the reign of the Mohammed Ali Pasha's family, a century and a half of Egypt's modern history. “The Memory of the East” was the fourth exhibition in the series and it featured works by Orientalists. The exhibition is on until 31 October.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 1 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
