25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Until the middle of next month Cairo Berlin is showcasing works by Margot Veillon. In the limited space afforded by the gallery it is hardly fair to speak of anything so ambitious as a retrospective -- Veillon has, after all, been working for more than three quarters of a century now -- though it is true that the current exhibition contains pieces drawn from various phases of this prolific artist's distinguished career.
Included are a small number of set-piece oils, not least the painting, left, a 1954 portrayal of a peasant farmer. If the composition, on first reading, is governed by exclusively formal considerations, particularly the striking tonal contrasts between middle- and backgrounds, the insouciant heroism of the figure places it squarely within the post-revolutionary period, though this is an assertion with which I am by no means sure the artist would agree.
While the other medium-sized oils tend to be portraits, the bulk of the works on show are watercolours, many of them no more than sketches, a quick aide memoire for the artist. That they have lost none of their freshness and immediacy with the passing of time is testimony to both Veillon's power of concentrated observation as well as her facility with a brush.
Drawing on a lifetime's work, the Cairo Berlin show is able quietly, insistently, to make its point: for some seven decades now Margot Veillon has been chronicling the Egypt in which she has lived without prejudice and without favour. It is an honest portrayal, and consistently so. And in today's noisier climes her considerable achievement is, if anything, thrown into greater relief.
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