, is a group exhibition of paintings by a galaxy of contemporary Egyptian artists currently on display at Salama gallery. This week's focus is on the art of iconic and multidimensional artist Georges Bahgory. He showcases aquarelle paintings mostly produced in 1996 as well as some of his old collections. Bahgory started to paint his caricature in Egyptian magazines and excelled in distinct style, through which he addressed many issues and has added to this art a lot, and through those experiences in drawing cartoons he began a new stage in his art history towards paintings. He started with depicting the ordinary people such as the little boys playing in front of their houses in the Egyptians lanes. Works by Bahgory can be categorized as expressionist and cubist with bright colours appealing to folk art fans. He cites 20th century favourite Pablo Picasso, Egyptian modernist Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar, German expressionist Paul Klee, and Egyptian Fayoum portraits as among his influences. Bahgory paints in a manner that viewers can perceive as either dark or whimsical, a model combination for the rugged and creative spirit of both Egypt and the 20th century's best-selling artist. Bahgory is widely referred to as ‘the granddaddy of Egyptian caricature,' and as ‘Egypt's Picasso' he is most famous for his political cartoons that have been featured in Arabic press for decades. In 1955, he studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Zamalek, Cairo, under the guidance of the Egyptian artist Hussein Bikar. In 1970, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. His 30-year stay in Paris refined his talent in drawing, engraving, painting, sculpture, marionette art, novel writing, cinema and criticism. Upon a special invitation from the Society of Art Lovers in Paris, his works were selected to represent the Egyptian Pavilion at the Louvre Museum in 1999, where his painting ‘A Face from Egypt' won the Silver Medal award. His wood and bronze engravings have been displayed in galleries in France and Canada. From 1953 to 1975, Bahgory was also a prominent cartoonist for the two weekly Egyptian magazines Sabah Al-Kheir and Rose Al-Youssef and has been Al-Ahram Weekly's cartoonist for many years now. Some of his works were acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in Amman and the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo. The exhibition is on until the end of the summer season.
