In October 2007, controversy erupted around the attempted sale of an artwork by the Egyptian Modernist painter Mahmoud Saïd (1897-1964) that involved the auction house Christie's, the Egyptian government and the international police organisation Interpol.
Saïd's seductive La Fille aux yeux verts (The Girl with the Green Eyes) – one of the more modest lots in an auction of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art at Christie's Dubai that also included Ahmed Moustafa's Qur'anic Polyptych of Nine Panels (1995) and Farhad Moshiri's diamond-encrusted One World (2007), both of which went on to set auction records, – was scheduled to go under the hammer when the Egyptian government insisted that it be withdrawn.
Painted by Saïd, an Alexandrian judge and artist who also happened to be the son of one of Egypt's prime ministers and uncle to Queen Farida, the first wife of King Farouk, La Fille aux yeux verts had actually belonged to the Egyptian state, it was claimed at the time, and should have been gracing the walls of a diplomatic residence in New York. But as art historians, auctioneers and the Egyptian government now know, rather than being a criminal matter, the furore over this femme fatale with the green eyes was actually a case of mistaken identity.
Unknown to the wider art community, Saïd had painted two almost identical versions of the same subject, the first in 1931 and a second in 1932, named La Fille aux yeux verts (réplique). It was this later version, which was originally part of the collection of Charles Terrasse, the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo, that had found its way to Dubai in 2007.
The truth behind the confusion was discovered only recently thanks to archival research that not only revealed that it had become part of Terrasse's private collection as early as January 1936, but that it had also featured in a special issue of the cosmopolitan Egyptian literary and artistic review, Le Semaine Egyptienne, dedicated to Mahmoud Saïd.
Almost exactly 10 years later, La Fille aux yeux verts (réplique) is again up for sale with Christie's Dubai, only this time it is being auctioned in London. The tale of how this has happened is not only illustrative of how the market for Middle Eastern art has changed during the intervening decade but also of how it is now an area of serious concern to auctioneers, collectors and art historians alike.
At the time of the 2007 sale, the general lack of documentation available on Mahmoud Saïd, and on 20th century artists from the region in general, meant that questions of attribution, authenticity and provenance were always open to confusion and debate. In Saïd's case, at least, that is no longer the case.
Saïd is now one of the region's most expensive artists and is considered as one of the most important founders of modern Egyptian painting. In 2010, his The Whirling Dervishes (1929) achieved a price of US$2.5 million (then Dh9.2m) at Christie's Dubai, setting a world-record for the artist and for any Arab work sold at auction to that date.
Thanks to the work of Valerie Didier-Hess, a University of Cambridge and Courtauld Insitute-educated art historian who is Christie's Dubai's director of business development, and Dr Hussam Rashwan, the owner of one of the world's foremost collections of modern Egyptian art, Saïd now also has a complete, two-volume catalogue raisonné, the first-of-its-kind for any Arab artist.
In 2007, Christie's estimated that Saïd's green-eyed girl might fetch somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000, but thanks to the controversy surrounding the picture it hadn't come up for auction since.
Now it is considered as one of the star lots in Christie's forthcoming auction of Middle Eastern modern and contemporary art, which takes places in London on the evening of October 25. It is estimated to fetch between $110,000 and $150,000.
The sale is the first time that Christie’s Dubai has taken works from the region to London, in search of collectors with more diverse tastes and bigger budgets, and also represents another significant first for the Dubai-based auction house.
The forthcoming auction includes a selection of works that point to the diversity of artist's output in the region throughout the 20th century.
These include Saïd's luminous Nu au rideau gris (1934), the abstracted Untitled (reclining) by the Indian-born, UK-trained Saudi-Kuwaiti painter Munira Al Kazi, Sami Rafi's Untitled (blue nude) from 1951, which displays the influence of Picasso and Matisse, and most strikingly of all, La Passion Sauvage or La Passion Dévorante (1940) by the renowned Egyptian Surrealist Ramsès Younan.
Painted in the same year as the Egyptian Art and Freedom movement's inaugural exhibition, La Passion Dévorante features a tortured and female form rendered in a palette of dark, oily pigments and heavy, earthy tones whose palette and form not only echo the Francisco Goya painting now known as Saturn Devouring His Son (c.1819-1823) but also look to Picasso and The Metamorphosis of Lovers, painted two years earlier by the French Surrealist artist André Masson.
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Read more:
Chronicling the life and work of Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said
Fresh perspectives on the Egyptian Surrealists of the 1930s and 1940s
A preview of Sotheby’s new auction Boundless: Dubai
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Featuring 57 lots, including two paintings donated by the Emirati artist Abdul Qadr Al Rais (b.1951) to benefit Emirates Red Crescent's work in Syrian refugee camps, The Dream and Untitled, Christie's auction also includes major works by Syrian artists such as Mahmoud Hammad and Fateh Moudarres (1922-99), a painter who was also a renowned poet and writer.
As well as Moudarres' Farewell to the Gods in Beirut (1986), a monumental polyptych finished in oils and gold leaf on canvas, the sale includes a pair of portraits by the Aleppo-
born artist from 1974 that are rare examples of the painter's figurative oeuvre.
Featuring Amal Al Ghazi and her brother Ghiath, the portraits blend motifs from ancient Assyrian statuary, a recurring motif in Moudarres's work, with fiery colours and gold leaf divided by dark outlines that not only lend them the quality of a stained glass window but also make reference to Christian iconography and mediaeval art.
In many ways, Christie's sale is the perfect companion to Sotheby's auction of Middle Eastern art, which took place in London last night.
Both auctions feature major works by the same artists including the Iranian painters Bahman Mohasses and Sohrab Sepehri, the Armenian, Lebanese-based painter Paul Guiragossian and the internationally renowned Lebanese artist Shafic Abboud, whose luminous and transluscent La Veste Chinoise (1980), which is offered at Christie's, features ornamentation that recalls the embellished surfaces of Gustav Klimt's paintings and Byzantine mosaics.
In the case of Mahmoud Saïd, Sotheby's also included an important work, Nu Couché au Divan Bleu (Nude Lying on a Blue Sofa), from 1938 and both sales also feature cosmologically inspired works by the Iranian-born master Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, in Sotheby's case Einak Azad Asst, a mixed media work from 1963, and at Christie's Sari Fe Azar from 1965.
Taken together, the sales represent a masterclass in 20th century art from the Middle East and clearly reflect the auction houses’ aspirations for the market. That they are pitching so hard in London and not in the region is telling, but both auctions will be returning to Dubai with sales in November for Sotheby’s and for Christie’s in Spring 2018.
Christie’s evening sale of Middle Eastern Modern & Contemporary Art sale takes place in London on October 25. Visit www.christies.com for more details.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
THE%20STRANGERS'%20CASE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Brandt%20Andersen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOmar%20Sy%2C%20Jason%20Beghe%2C%20Angeliki%20Papoulia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
The%20Hunger%20Games%3A%20The%20Ballad%20of%20Songbirds%20%26%20Snakes
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Francis%20Lawrence%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ERachel%20Zegler%2C%20Peter%20Dinklage%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Tom%20Blyth%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
WHAT%20IS%20'JUICE%20JACKING'%3F
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Juice%20jacking%2C%20in%20the%20simplest%20terms%2C%20is%20using%20a%20rogue%20USB%20cable%20to%20access%20a%20device%20and%20compromise%20its%20contents%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20exploit%20is%20taken%20advantage%20of%20by%20the%20fact%20that%20the%20data%20stream%20and%20power%20supply%20pass%20through%20the%20same%20cable.%20The%20most%20common%20example%20is%20connecting%20a%20smartphone%20to%20a%20PC%20to%20both%20transfer%20data%20and%20charge%20the%20former%20at%20the%20same%20time%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20term%20was%20first%20coined%20in%202011%20after%20researchers%20created%20a%20compromised%20charging%20kiosk%20to%20bring%20awareness%20to%20the%20exploit%3B%20when%20users%20plugged%20in%20their%20devices%2C%20they%20received%20a%20security%20warning%20and%20discovered%20that%20their%20phones%20had%20paired%20to%20the%20kiosk%2C%20according%20to%20US%20cybersecurity%20company%20Norton%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20While%20juice%20jacking%20is%20a%20real%20threat%2C%20there%20have%20been%20no%20known%20widespread%20instances.%20Apple%20and%20Google%20have%20also%20added%20security%20layers%20to%20prevent%20this%20on%20the%20iOS%20and%20Android%20devices%2C%20respectively%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Raha%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Kuwait%2FSaudi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tech%20Logistics%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2414%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Soor%20Capital%2C%20eWTP%20Arabia%20Capital%2C%20Aujan%20Enterprises%2C%20Nox%20Management%2C%20Cedar%20Mundi%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20166%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Match info
Costa Rica 0
Serbia 1
Kolarov (56')
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.