MOHAMED SHAKER (EGYPTIAN B. 1947)
The Barbeque
signed and dated in Arabic Mohammed Shaker 96 (lower left)
oil on board, framed
69 x 98 cm (27 x 38 1/2 in)

PROVENANCE
Dr. Mohamed Said Farsi

Dr. Mohamed Said Farsi (1934-2019) was one of the world’s great patrons of Egyptian art. In 1956 he was one of only 35 students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent abroad for further education. Having obtained a BA in Architecture and Town Planning from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, he returned to Saudi Arabia and in 1972 became the Mayor of Jeddah. During his lifetime, he assembled the most important private collection of Modern Egyptian art.

His collection became the first of its type to be fully documented with the publication of ‘A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection – the “Egyptian Works” owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi’ by the critic and scholar Dr. Sobhy Sharouny (published 1998).

Born in Daqahlia in northern Egypt, Mohamed Shaker commenced his training in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria from where graduated in 1976. He went on to study mural painting and gained a PhD in the environmental impact on Egyptian mural painting in 1987. A recognised and well respected academic, he was Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandra University and is a member of the Fine Arts Association, the Alexandria Atelier Group of Artists and Writers and of International League of Contemporary Mosaic Artists.

His paintings have been exhbited widely in galleries in Alexandria and Cairo as well as internationally and can be found in many private and state collections. Inspired by his environment surrounding him, the artist works in different fields including mosaic, coloured glass, sculpture, printed designs, interior design, and architectural design. In 2002, he was mandated to design and implement murals of the City of Alexandria and has worked on many urban and corporate projects within Egypt.