Bardaouil - Surrealism in Egypt: modernism and the Art and Liberty Group

Sam Bardaouil (PhD) is an art historian and curator whose research focuses on the international expression of modernism. He has taught at universities such as the American University of Beirut and the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and published in academic journals such as Dada/Surrealism , Qantara , and the International Journal of Humanities .

He is co-founder of Art Reoriented, a multidisciplinary curatorial platform based in Munich and New York. Among their many exhibitions, Art Reoriented curated the critically acclaimed Lebanese Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), the groundbreaking international exhibition Tea with Nefertiti (201214) and Art et Libert : Rupture, War and Surrealism in Egypt at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Dsseldorf and the Tate Liverpool (201618).

This is really a change of perspective that is absolutely helpful to understand more about Surrealism.

Dr. Doris Krystof, curator at Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dsseldorf, the New York Times (article on Art Reoriented and its research on Surrealism in Egypt)

Bardaouils theoretically rigorous research provides Surrealism with a wider context that is underpinned by global discourse. Destabilizing an important chapter on art history, his timely contribution is a profound addition to our understanding of modernism beyond the dominant narrative of post-colonial studies.

Dr. Nada Shabout, Professor of Art History, University of North Texas

SURREALISM

IN

EGYPT

MODERNISM AND THE
ART AND LIBERTY GROUP

SAM BARDAOUIL

Published in 2017 by

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

London New York

www.ibtauris.com

Copyright 2017 Sam Bardaouil

The right of Sam Bardaouil to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

Book Cover: Ida Kar/Idabel, Surreal Study , c .1940. Impression bromide on paper. 25.4 20.6 cm. National Portrait Gallery, London.

ISBN: 978 1 78453 651 0

eISBN: 978 1 78672 163 1

ePDF: 978 1 78673 163 0

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

Don Quichotte, Hebdomadaire dactualit paraissant le jeudi, no. 10, February 8, 1940, p. 8. Closed 58 40 cm. Open 58 80 cm. Courtesy Bibliothque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (BDIC), Paris.

Kamel el-Telmisany, c .1945. Members and Affiliates of the Art and Liberty Group at the Maison des artistes, Darb el-Labbana, Citadel, c .1945. (Detail) Photographer unknown. Courtesy Lucie Thiam & Christophe Bouleau.

Georges Henein Press ID, 1937. Closed: 10.2 7.2 cm/Open: 10.2 14.4 cm. Courtesy Farhi Henein collection, Paris.

Fouad Kamel and Ramses Younane, c .1945. Members and Affiliates of the Art and Liberty Group at the Maison des artistes, Darb el-Labbana, Citadel, c .1945. (Detail) Photographer unknown. Courtesy Lucie Thiam & Christophe Bouleau.

Portrait of Ramses Younane, c .1950. Silver gelatin print. Photographer unknown. Courtesy Sylvie and Sonia Younan, Paris.

dmond Jabs, with illustrations by Mayo. Les pieds en lair , 1934. Paperback. 20.5 14.4 cm. Courtesy Municipal Library of Lyon, Res K 118732.

Mayo in Saint Marks Square in Venice, 1923. Silver gelatin print. 12.3 18.6 cm. Photographer unknown. Courtesy The Yani Malliarakis Collection, Paris.

Aziz Eloui Bey and Lee Miller , Egypt, 1939. Modern digital print. 9.0 11.5 cm. Photographer unknown. Lee Miller Archives, England 2016. All rights reserved.

No. 1 Army Film Photographic Unit Cash (Capt.), Two Sherman tanks taking part in the United Nations parade in Cairo on June 14, 1943. Imperial War Museum Photography Collection, UK (E25247).

Don Quichotte, Hebdomadaire dactualit paraissant le jeudi, no. 10, February 8, 1940, p. 2. Closed 58 40 cm. Open 58 80 cm. Courtesy Bibliothque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (BDIC), Paris.

tienne Sved, Self-portrait, c .1942. Silver gelatin print. Courtesy Muse Nicphore Nipce, Chalon-sur-Sane.

Caricature. Mohammad Hassan, The Dictatorship of the Fine Arts , 1939. Republished in Al-Mussawar , no. 1164, January 31, 1947. Courtesy Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich.

Al-fannann induna fi tariqihim ila fann mar, Majallat al-Imrah , vol. 4, nos 7 and 8, 1942. Courtesy Mercedes Volait Collection, Paris.

La Socit des amis de lart, xposition 1927 (Inauguration of the Salon du Caire) , 1927. Silver gelatin print on paper. 18 13 cm. Photographer unknown. Courtesy Estate of Chafik Charobim, Cairo.

Members of the Art and Liberty Group at the second exhibition of independent art, March 1025, 1941. Front (from left to right): Jean Moscatelli, Kamel el-Telmissany, Angelo de Riz, Ramses Younan, Fouad Kamel. Back (from left to right): Albert Cossery, unidentified, Georges Henein, Maurice Fahmy, Raoul Curiel. Black and white print on paper. 11.6 14.7 cm. Photographer unknown. Courtesy Sylvie and Sonia Younan, Paris.

Don Quichotte , Hebdomadaire dactualit paraissant le jeudi, no. 6, January 11, 1940, p. 2. Closed 58 40 cm. Open 58 80 cm. Courtesy Bibliothque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (BDIC), Paris.

Don Quichotte , Hebdomadaire dactualit paraissant le jeudi, no. 17, March 29, 1940, p. 2. Closed 58 40 cm. Open 58 80 cm. Courtesy Bibliothque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (BDIC), Paris.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Benedetta Cappa Marinetti in a group. Silver gelatin print, processed in Cairo. 14.5 11.4 cm. Photographer unknown. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Papers, General Collection, 209 GEN MSS 130. Courtesy Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Front cover La semaine Kemique. Maalesh , Numro futuriste, December 28, 1929. Digital print from slide. Libroni on Futurism: slides. General Collection, [6327-1] GEN MSS 475. Courtesy Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Caricatures cover La semaine Kemique. Maalesh , Numro futuriste, December 28, 1929. Digital print from slide. Libroni on Futurism: slides. General Collection, [6327-1] GEN MSS 475. Courtesy Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Dinner banquet on March 22, 1938 in honor of Marinetti at Carlo Grassis Villa Nedda in Zamalek, Cairo. La Semaine gyptienne , March 26, 1938, p. 21. Photographer unknown.