Maher Raief (Egypt 1926-1999)The Surrealist Coffeehouse oil on panel, framedsigned "Raief" (lower right), executed circa 1970-198078 x 60cm (30 11/16 x 23 5/8in).注脚AN IMPORTANT GROUP OF WORKS BY MAHER RAIEF FROM A DISTINGUISHED ALEXANDRIAN COLLECTIONProvenance:Property from a private collection, AlexandriaAcquired directly from the Artist by the present ownerMaher Raief was an active member of the Contemporary Art Group with his fellow group members, Hamed Nada and Samir Rafi, the group aimed to Express a distinctly Egyptian identity, from the yoke of colonial influence. In 1952 he takes part in the Venice Biennale where he gains notable recognition.Maher Raief was born in Cairo in 1926 and died in the United States in 1999. He graduated from the Cairo Faculty of Fine Arts in 1950 . In 1954 he got a BA in Philosophy from Cairo University. In 1960 he got a Diploma in Graphics from Dusseldorf and in 1975 he obtained his PH.D.in Graphics , Aesthetics and Art History from Cologne University in Germany.Appointed teacher in Cairo Faculty of Fine Arts in 1951. In 1960 he moved to Alexandria Faculty of Fine Arts and became the head of the Graphics department in 1975. He continued as a Professor of Graphics in the same Faculty until his death.He exhibited his works in Germany , Alexandria Biennale , Lausanne Graphics biennale . He participated in exhibitions in Stockholm , Lausanne , Tokyo , Moscow , Sao Paolo , Venice and Rome.He won the Lausanne Biennale prize in 1964. In the mid forties he was an active member of the Contemporary Art Group which was established by Hussein Youssef Amin and comprised El Gazzar and Hamed Nada among others.