A Song for Life, is an exhibition of paintings by the 100 years old artist Hafez Al-Raie currently on show atPicasso gallery. The gallery is celebrating with Al-Raie his 100 birthday and also his magnificent art career. It is a celebration of 75 years of creativity since his graduation in 1939 from Leonardo da Vinci Institute. Critic Ezzeddin Naguib wrote about the artistic character of Al-Raie in Al-Helal magazine, June edition, 2001, questioning how very few people know about the folk art life of the artist despite his creative fertility. Then, a book named Hafez Al-Raie and His Joyful Folk Life was released in a series of art memory. To say that he is a veteran artist with high sensitivity and refined taste is an understatement. He deals with life and people with delicacy, transparency and an inner peace only possessed by a person like Al-Raie that shaped his serene nature which is full of love and optimism and through which he modestly created a state of authentic beauty. Surprisingly enough, Al-Raie didn't hold any solo exhibitions throughout his unique art career until 2001 when he displayed his paintings in private galleries. The artist took part in several group exhibitions, which included works by renowned Egyptian artists such as the late Abbass Shohdy, pastel artist Mohamed Sabry, leading portraitist Sabry Ragheb as well as the Egyptian impressionism pioneer Youssef Raafat. He belongs to the generation that followed the first pioneers in the art movement, the generation of the late 1930's and the beginning of the 1940's. The exhibition not only marks his 100 birthday but also celebrates his entire oeuvre that varied from the first originals through its different stages from new classicism, to impressionism to beyond impressionism passing by expressionism, symbolic expressionism even the surrealist spirit is felt in some of his artworks. The exhibition is on until 2 December
