Exhibitions featured in
Materials
oil on gold paper
48.5 x 59.5cm; 19 1/8 x 23 3/8in
65.5 x 74.6cm; 25 6/8 x 29 3/8in (framed)
Located in
LondonLOT 27 QUEEN FARIDA OF EGYPT (EGYPTIAN 1921-1988) ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE
oil on gold paper 48.5 x 59.5cm; 19 1/8 x 23 3/8in 65.5 x 74.6cm; 25 6/8 x 29 3/8in (framed) Property from a Private Collection, London Provenance Dr Mohammed Said Farsi Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2013
£7,000 – £9,000
Her artistic journey was never a mere hobby of the leisure class; it was a psychological sanctuary. Under the early tutelage of her uncle, the legendary Egyptian master Mahmoud Sa’id, Farida developed a sensibility that married the grandeur of her upbringing with a raw, introspective humanity. When the 1952 Revolution finally dismantled the monarchy, she traded the stifling etiquette of the Abdeen Palace for the bohemian studios of Paris and Beirut. It was here, stripped of her crown but draped in the vibrant colours of her heritage, that Farida truly found her kingdom.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Her prose on canvas was written in light and shadow. Her work leaned heavily into a lyrical Impressionism, characterised by a profound sense of longing. She often painted the Egyptian landscape from memory, her brushstrokes capturing the hazy, golden humidity of the Nile and the rhythmic geometry of Sufi dervishes in mid-whirl. These subjects were not just cultural motifs; they were manifestations of her own search for spiritual equilibrium and a way to bridge the distance between her European exile and the soil that remained her greatest muse.
In her later years, Farida’s return to Cairo signaled a quiet triumph. She was no longer viewed through the lens of political tragedy, but as a respected peer among Egypt’s artistic elite. Her legacy remains a testament to the idea that title and status are temporary, but the creative spirit, once unburdened, is sovereign. She died in 1988, leaving behind a body of work that serves as a vivid, colorful bridge between the vanishing world of the pashas and the enduring heartbeat of modern Egyptian art.
Queen Farida’s works have been shown in numerous exhibitions, most recently at Liwan Gallery in Cairo in 2025 with her granddaughter Yasmine Perreten. The artist has entered the collections of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Doha, Qatar), Queen Farida Museum / Al-Shumu’a Gallery (Maadi, Cairo), Alexandria Museum of Fine Arts (Alexandria, Egypt), National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (Cairo, Egypt), Royal Jewelry Museum (Alexandria, Egypt), the private collection of Janet Gaynor and Paul Gregory (United States) and various private collections (Paris, Zurich, and Beirut).
