The historic Aisha Fahmy Palace in Zamalek, known as Mogamaa Al-Fonoon, or The Complex Palace of Arts, was recently re-opened after years of renovations. In addition to the architectural and artistic treasures it houses, the palace will host art exhibitions managed by the Visual Arts Department at Ministry of Culture. Aisha Fahmy opens with an exhibition entitled “Treasures of Our Art Museums,” which showcases a special national collection of artworks by Egypt's leading artists among them pioneer artist Mohamed Nagy. Nagy, a leading artist who laid the foundation of the modern art renaissance, lived in Alexandria and left his works in the Mediterranean seaport. He studied art in Florence, Italy. After returning prior to the outbreak of the World War I, he rebelled against the academic styles and was influenced by impressionism. In his work, he tended to link the ancient Egyptian art history with the present. His passion for nature is palpable. He was inspired by ancient Egyptian mural drawing. His paintings are characterised by a transparent, harmonic palette of colours and strong, balanced compositions. Determined to complete his painting Alexandria School, which he began to work on in 1939 when he was the director of the Museum of Modern Art in 1952, Nagy decided to turn a piece of land he owned in Hadaaek Al-Ahram into a studio, the current site of the museum, where he died. In 1962, the Ministry of Culture bought the studio to turn it into a museum. His sister Effat, donated 40 oil paintings of his works, a collection of his sketches and his memorabilia to the Ministry of Culture. The exhibition is on until 31 August
