Ahmed Sabry (Egypt, 1889-1995)Safia Zaghloul before the tomb of her husband Saad Zaghloul oil on canvas, framedsigned and dated "1932", executed in 193273 x 60cm (28 3/4 x 23 5/8in).注脚Provenance:Property from a private collection, Alexandria"The masses considered Zaghloul their national leader, the za'im al-umma, the uncompromising national hero"The present painting is a highly significant depiction of Safia Zaghloul, known as "Umm al-Mesreen" (mother of the Egyptians) at the tomb of her beloved husband Saad Zaghloul (1853-1927). Saad Zaghloul (1853-1927) spent most of his adult life trying to end the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan, which had begun in 1882. He became a national spokesman for Egyptian and Sudanese self-rule, and also held the post of Prime Ministe. After his exile from Egypt to the Seychelles in 1919, his wife became a central figure of the Wafd Party and a major advocate for women's rights. Ahemd Sabry was born on April 19, 1889 in the Megharbeleen neighborhood of Cairo's Darb el-Ahmar district. He suffered from a tormented upbringing, moving houses frequently after being orphaned at an early age. In 1911, he joined the Fine Arts School and was sent to Paris in 1919 where he joined the Grande Chaumiere Academie, then the Academie Julienne.When Sabry returned to Egypt, he worked as an illustrator with the Entomology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, then as an artist with the Ministry of Public Works, which sent him on a further scholarship to Paris; there, he exhibited his painting "The Nun" in the Grand Palais in 1929, and was awarded the Prix d'Honneur by the French Arts Society. Upon his return to Cairo in 1929, he took up work as a teacher at the Higher School for Fine Arts until 1951.Sabry was a renowned teacher and fostered the talents of numerous Egyptian masters such as Hussein Bicar, Salah Taher, and Hamed Owais. Sabry is considered a pioneer of classic easel portraiture, and his portraits are considered some of the most technically exquisite and stylistically elegant examples of Egyptian portrait painting.