Samir Rafi (1926–2004) was an Egyptian modernist painter who combined modern style with lines inspired from

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. His pieces primarily represented modern Egypt and the surrounding region.Catalogue Exhibit 2014
/ref> He was inspired by

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, creating artworks both figurative and abstract.

Biography

Samir Rafi participated to his first exhibition age 17, while he was a student of

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

painter Shafiq Rizq. In 1944 and 1945 he takes part to the exhibitions organised by the group Art et Liberté. Samir Rafi studied at the

College of Fine Arts in Cairo Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University is a school of fine arts established in Cairo in 1908. It is now the Faculty of Fine Arts, or art department of the Helwan University. It is formerly known as the School of Fine Arts, Cairo, College of Fine A ...

, where he obtained a diploma with specialisation in

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...

in 1948. That year he joins the ''Contemporary Art Group'' movement. He then pursued a doctorate at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was one of

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes, and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was bor ...

's students. Rafi taught at the

and mounted exhibitions in Egypt. He later taught arts and history in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. One of his paintings reached the price of 87,500 GBP at a

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

sale in 2019.Christie's sale 2019
/ref>

Artworks

* Untitled, 1960, oil on canvas, 162.5 x 138 cm, sold 87,500 GPB in 2019 at Christie's *''Nus'', 1945, oil on canvas, 173 x 163 cm, collection Cheikh Hassan M. A. Al Thani *''La Sorcière'', 1946, oil on canvas, 77 x 46 cm, collection Nadim Elias * ''Momie ressuscitée'', oil on burlap laid down on panel, 1959, 215 x 68 cm, sold for 35,000 GPB in 2018 at Christie's Christie's sales
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafi, Samir 1926 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Egyptian male artists 20th-century Egyptian painters Artists from Cairo College of Fine Arts in Cairo alumni Date of birth missing Sorbonne Paris North University alumni