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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Worlds of art
After my exhilarating first encounter with the works of Mahmoud Said, I became interested in art, passionately so. I bought a book -- which I still have -- titled Outline of Art. It is a basic sort of book, which traces the history of world art in a very enjoyable way for the novice, and covers just about everything from the Pharaohs to Picasso.
I remember that every morning, I would enjoy one picture, as if it were the day's first cup of coffee. Starting the day that way was wonderful. After I had dressed, and before going to work, I would turn over a new page and contemplate a new painting, which would stay with me all day long. It could be Toulouse Lautrec's Le Moulin Rouge, or a bas-relief from a Pharaonic temple, or Van Gogh's sunflowers...
This is how I developed a very intense, very personal relationship with works that are clichés to most art aficionados. I felt they were mine alone; they set the rhythm of my day. I also felt strongly about El-Telmessani's collection -- he was a good friend of mine, and I followed his surrealist work, as well as that of Ramses Yunan and Fouad Kamel. They put out a very enjoyable magazine, in which I published a few things. El-Telmessani had a wide-ranging knowledge of cultural matters and the library of a man of letters.
I was also interested in music, and did my best to acquaint myself with it. Again, I had a favourite book -- Music Through the Ages -- which I perused endlessly. I would read about the great classic pieces, then listen to them, entranced.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
