(i) DANCER WITH CIGARETTE; (ii) DANCER WITH CIGARETTE AND HEAD STUDIES - A PAIR
both: signed in English Wanly lower left
felt tip on paper
(i) 28 x 17.5cm; 11 x 7in
40.5 x 30cm; 16 x 11 3/4in (framed)
(ii) 28.5 x 19cm; 11 1/4in
45 x 36.5cm; 17 3/4 x 14 1/4in (framed)
(2)

Property from a Private Collection, London

Provenance
Collection of Dr Mohammed Said Farsi
Thence by descent to the present owner

Literature
Dr Sobhy Al Sharouny, A Museum in a Book, Cairo, 1998, pp. 185 and 194, illustrated (i and ii)

Born to an affluent aristocratic family in Alexandria, Wanly received a private education alongside his siblings, including studying oil painting with his brother, Seif, under Italian painter Arturo Zanieri (1870-1955) (see lot 43). Wanly and his brother joined the studio of Italian painter Ottorino Bicchi (1878-1949) after it opened in Alexandria in 1929 to continue their painting studies. When Bicchi closed his studio in 1935 before the start of the Second World War, Wanly and his brother along with painter Ahmad Fahmi and filmmaker Mohammed Bayoumi opened their own studio in Alexandria. After travelling extensively throughout Europe, Wanly and his brother were appointed as professors at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1957.

Wanly's early works drew influence from his studies under Bicchi, who was close to the Italian macchiaioli artistic group, which was influenced by the French Impressionist movement and the Ecole de Barbizon. Adham was later influenced by modern pictorial trends, such as Cubism and Fauvism. He developed a passion for performance arts depicting the vibrant and dynamic movements of the performers on stage, reflected in the work shown here.