Lot 21: Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925 - 1965)

Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925 - 1965)
The Cosmorama (Sandouk El-Dounia)
signed and dated 'Elgazzar 1951' and signed in Arabic (lower left)
signed and titled in Arabic (on the reverse)
oil on cardboard
25 x 19in. (63.5 x 48.5cm.)
Painted in 1951

Sobhy Al-Sharouny, A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection "The Egyptian Works" Owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi, Cairo, 1998 (illustrated in colour, p.290 and illustrated p.282 ref 31/41 )
Sobhy Al-Sharouny, Abdel Hadi Al-Gazzar, Cairo, 2007 (illustrated in colour, p.60)

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI
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The Cosomorama ('World in a Box', or Sandouk El-Donia in Arabic) is a peep show through which pictures in perspective illusionistically depict different places or scenes by means of lenses and controlled illumination.
The Cosmorama occupies the centre of the composition, surrounded by a bare-chested acrobat, a performing monkey and a young girl from one of Egypt's poorer districts. Circus figures are recurring motifs in much of El-Gazzar's work, often present at moulids- festivals marking saints' birthdays- still the subject of raucous celebration in more traditional areas. A horse shoe suspended from the roof of the Cosmorama and the human-headed scorpion emblazoned on its curtain are typical of the superstitious and folkloric elements which populate his paintings.