Page 226 - Features of an Era
P. 226
After running the new competition, An excerpt of the article on the results of the competition
sculptor Mustafa Metwally won the for the statues of Isma’il and Fouad published in Al-
first prize for the statue of Khedive
Isma’il. Metwally was one of the most Mussawar magazine on March 17th, 1950
remarkable sculptors then. He graduated A picture of the Egyptian sculptor Mustafa Naguib
from the Sculpture Department in 1933, taken in Cairo in the mid-sixties of the twentieth
after a five-year-study under his Austrian century, Source: The archive of Dr. Hussein Naguib
professor Cluzel, and came top of his
class. He got a scholarship to Rome and
enrolled in the Royal Academy of Arts
between 1934 and 1939. He returned
to work in the factory of antique models
of the Egyptian Museum, and joined the
Egyptian Academy of Art.»(23)
The late Egyptian critic Muhammad
Hamza, one of those observed the
assignment of Metwally for the creation
of the statue of Khedive Isma’il of Tahrir
Square, in the context of Hamza’s
documentation for some graduates of the
Faculty of Fine Arts in celebration of its
centenary. Hamza wrote «Metwally’s
rapid implementation of sculptures was
exemplary; he carved many sculptures
and monuments, including the statue
of Khedive Isma’il, which was planned
to be erected on its pedestal in Isma’ilia
Square (currently Tahrir Square). During
putting the final touches to the statue, the
July 23rd, 1952 Revolution erupted, and
the project was canceled.» (24)
King Farouk was enthusiastic about a
project connecting Tahrir Square, then
known as Isma’ilia Square, and Abdeen
Square, where the Royal Palace was
located through widening the street
running between them, and erecting a
statue of his father King Fouad in Abdeen
Square, and a statue of his grandfather
(23) Al-Jabakhanji, Muhammad Sidqi: History of the Artistic Movement in Egypt until 1945, Cairo, General
Egyptian Book Organization, 1986, p. 103.
(24) Several writers: Faculty of Fine Arts: 100 Years of Creativity, Centenary of the Fine Arts Book, Mohamed
S. Farsi Foundation, 2008, p. 80.
226
sculptor Mustafa Metwally won the for the statues of Isma’il and Fouad published in Al-
first prize for the statue of Khedive
Isma’il. Metwally was one of the most Mussawar magazine on March 17th, 1950
remarkable sculptors then. He graduated A picture of the Egyptian sculptor Mustafa Naguib
from the Sculpture Department in 1933, taken in Cairo in the mid-sixties of the twentieth
after a five-year-study under his Austrian century, Source: The archive of Dr. Hussein Naguib
professor Cluzel, and came top of his
class. He got a scholarship to Rome and
enrolled in the Royal Academy of Arts
between 1934 and 1939. He returned
to work in the factory of antique models
of the Egyptian Museum, and joined the
Egyptian Academy of Art.»(23)
The late Egyptian critic Muhammad
Hamza, one of those observed the
assignment of Metwally for the creation
of the statue of Khedive Isma’il of Tahrir
Square, in the context of Hamza’s
documentation for some graduates of the
Faculty of Fine Arts in celebration of its
centenary. Hamza wrote «Metwally’s
rapid implementation of sculptures was
exemplary; he carved many sculptures
and monuments, including the statue
of Khedive Isma’il, which was planned
to be erected on its pedestal in Isma’ilia
Square (currently Tahrir Square). During
putting the final touches to the statue, the
July 23rd, 1952 Revolution erupted, and
the project was canceled.» (24)
King Farouk was enthusiastic about a
project connecting Tahrir Square, then
known as Isma’ilia Square, and Abdeen
Square, where the Royal Palace was
located through widening the street
running between them, and erecting a
statue of his father King Fouad in Abdeen
Square, and a statue of his grandfather
(23) Al-Jabakhanji, Muhammad Sidqi: History of the Artistic Movement in Egypt until 1945, Cairo, General
Egyptian Book Organization, 1986, p. 103.
(24) Several writers: Faculty of Fine Arts: 100 Years of Creativity, Centenary of the Fine Arts Book, Mohamed
S. Farsi Foundation, 2008, p. 80.
226
