Lot 36: CHANT AVEDISSIAN

CHANT AVEDISSIAN B. 1951 UMM KALTHOUM - SIT EL KUL (UMM KALTHOUM - PEOPLE'S LADY) signed and inscribed Cairo ; dated Cairo 2007 and dedicated For Marshall on the reverse gouache, gold and silver paint on cardboard 50 by 69cm.; 19 5/8 by 27 1/8 in.

Acquired directly from the artist by the previous owner
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

The accomplished Egyptian artist Chant Avedissian explores the politics of the mid-twentieth century in his poppy stencilled works, a style that belies the significant issues that inspired them. These works examine the rampant pan-Arabism and nationalism of the Arab World in the late 1960s, with Egypt at its centre, comparing and contrasting the nation's, and indeed the region's, current socio-political condition.

In this case the artist's nostalgia manifests itself in the iconic image of Umm Kulthoum, the most revered singer of the Arab world and figurehead of the liberalism and egalitarian mood of her era. Renowned as kawkab al sharq, the Star of the East, her humble beginnings as the daughter of an imam and her moderate upbringing instilled in her a sympathy for the common man. Despite her close relationships with the royal family, through her magnificent voice, strict moral values and intellectual drive she came to be upheld as the mother of modern Egypt by the new socialist regime. A dedicated patriot her songs were frequently broadcast immediately before the new president's speeches, and her monthly radio concerts often preceded government broadcasts.

It is pertinent that Avedissian should place her in front of the hieroglyphics of the Ancient Egyptians, with the reeds and disc-shaped sun. The marriage of these symbols of the ancient and modern, are emblematic of Egypt's past greatness.