Modernism in Arab Sculpture. The Works of Mahmud Mukhtar (1891–1934)

Abstract

Abstract This article considers the work of Egyptian sculptor Mahmud Mukhtar (1891–1934) in a wider context than that of figurative art in the Arab world. Often, comparison between works of Egyptian artists and those of their Europeans counterparts has been avoided under the assumption that Arab artists were behind the times. This paper places Mukhtar within a broader artistic movement known as the “return to classical order”, a reaction against the avant-garde that was widespread during the interwar period. The “return to classical order” was not limited to Europe but involved other countries of the Mediterranean. In this context, we can say that Mukhtar belonged to a generation of international artists who wanted to recover the foundations of academic training. His reinterpretations of other statues and models always have an Egyptian touch, however. His works speak of a quest for national identity even as they deeply engage with the European Modernism of the interwar period.