“Egyptian Village Market” (1955)
By Hosni El Banani (1912-1988)
27 x 35 in, oil on canvas
Coppola Collection

El Banani graduated from the Higher School of Fine Arts, where he studied under the artist Youssef Kamel and received the National Certificate of Art Teaching in 1937, and the Diploma of the Academy in Rome in 1940. He may be considered the successor of his professor in his following the Impressionist style with its touches of movement and its attraction for brilliant light and his use of ramble colors in drawing the same subjects that interested his teacher: the Egyptian alley, the village, people’s interaction with nature and with rural architecture, the congregation of cattle at village markets, and boats and boatmen. A large (41 x 70 in) painting of an outdoor dance scene realized 51K euro at a 2010 Christie’s auction.