UNTITLED
oil and metallic pigment on canvas
50.5 x 50.5cm; 20 x 20in (each)
50.5 x 203.2cm; 20 x 80in (together)
unframed

In four parts

Executed in circa late 1970s - early 1980s

Property of a Lady, London

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by a Private Collection, Egypt
Acquired from the above by descent to the present owner

Chant Avedissian was born to a family of Armenian refugees in Boulaq, a poor suburb of Cairo, Egypt. In 1967 he graduated from the Kalousdian Armenian school. After studying fine art at the School of Art and Design in Montreal and applied arts at the National Higher School of Decorative Arts in Paris during the 1970s, Avedissian returned to Egypt. His work frequently addressed questions of national identity, traditions, and culture, fusing techniques, concepts and cosmopolitan experiences acquired abroad with the heritage of his Armenian-Egyptian background to produce striking commentaries on the world around him.

Through his collaboration with the Aga Khan Foundation and noted Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy (1900-1989), Avedissian developed an interest in traditional art forms and local materials, which informed his approach to exploring his own identity.

Avedissian began working with Hassan Fathy in 1981, managing his archives, cataloguing drawings, plans, and theoretical texts, a partnership that continued until Fathy’s death in 1989. During this time, he travelled the length and breadth of Egypt, photographing Fathi’s extant buildings for a book published by the Aga Khan Foundation. Fathy's perspectives on the importance of integrating genuine Egyptian art with craft revival efforts - as well as his view that combining ancient and modern art should avoid external influences - significantly influenced Avedissian’s artistic development. Many works produced by Avedissian during the 1980s reflect methods and content shaped by this association, notably he produced numerous paintings of agrarian Egypt, including sketches and studies, such as the present lot.

His work is in very prominent public collections such as The British Museum (UK), Mathaf Museum of Modern Art (Qatar), National Museum of African Art - Smithsonian Institution (USA), the British Airways Collection (UK) and National Museum of Scotland, amongst others.