Hassan Mohamed Hassan
Encyclopedia
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
modern art from the second-wave such as Saeed elSadr (1909-1986) and Ahmed Osman. Hassan has been called Painter of the Epics and Philosophies by critiques and has been recognized by his colleagues for his strong adherence to Classical forms in Egyptian modern art. He has produced over 100 painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s some of which are on the large scale and most of which remain 'stored' with the family in his --now closed --residence near the Pyramids in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. He had authored 4 books in arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, history of art
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
, philosophy of art, and arts and society.
Born in Cairo in 1906 to a middle-class family with a Sufi Sheikh father, Hassan has seen the early days of Egypt's semi-independence from Ottomans under British occupation. Typical of the vogue of the day at Cairo, he has been noted for his patriotism through the seeking of a modern identity of the nation embedded in both heritage and modernity. He has died in Cairo on 30 March 1990.
Education
On 1929, he's been sent by the Ministry of Knowledge (Arabic: وزارة المعارف) to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, then to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to what seems to have been a shift in his career perhaps as potential teacher in the Applied Arts
Applied art
Applied art is the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use. Whereas fine arts serve as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities, the applied arts incorporate design and creative ideals to objects of utility, such as a cup, magazine or...
. He studied techniques for the decoration of glass vessels. Always fascinated by fine arts, he has added learning of classical painting and anatomy to this by attending the nightly courses in the L'Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. It seems that this was on the hands of a professor DiStefani who was highly praised by the painter at the time. His career was back to painting as a specialist in oil-painting, human body anatomy, and classical structures and arts.
Hassan could read, write and speak in English, Italian, French, and German in addition to Arabic his mother tongue. His library included books of literature, physical and social sciences, philosophy in different languages.
He has been actively curious throughout his life and even at the age of 80 was investigating things such as the nature of Black Holes in this universe.
Career
He started his career after graduation on 1926, as illustratorIllustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
for the American Schools of Oriental Research
American Schools of Oriental Research
The American Schools of Oriental Research, founded in 1900, supports and encourages the study of the peoples and cultures of the Near East, from the earliest times to the present. It is apolitical and has no religious affiliation...
in Palestine where William F. Albright
William F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...
was working.
Hassan has been actively investigating the nature of his native country Egypt and its larger nation (the Arab world), the world, and the universe.
Some of his early works illustrates folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and dramatic scenes from Cairo streets.
He has participated in many expos in Egypt and abroad, but three exhibitions dedicated for his paintings stand out as important life landmarks:
1- On year 1934 at the beginnings: Egypt Europe Exhibition
2- On year 1954 at the height of his career: The Revolution Exhibition
3- On year 1982 near the end: Hassan Mohamed Hassan Exhibition
His curiosity to understand has extended to cover many political causes including the independence of his own country, pan-Arabism, and specially the conflict in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
which he has experienced himself during his assignment on 1926.
Teaching Positions
On 1931, he came back from Italy to teach in High School of Applied Arts (Arabic: المدرسة العليا للفنون التطبيقية) which he --with efforts of his colleagues-- has transformed into a high Education College.This stage is one of his more profound stages of his paintings.
In 1949, he was demoted from the College and transferred to a job as Inspector in Ministry of Education in which he's spent 3 years. On 1952, he's been re-instated by the Revolution committees and held his previous position in the College of Applied Arts (now affiliated with Helwan University
Helwan University
Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan in Egypt. It comprises 18 faculties as well as 50 research centers.Generally, it is known for engineering and business studies...
) in which he's continued teaching until he retired in 1966. After which he's taught in the College for many years as Professor Emeritus.
He's reached the position of Professor and Chair of Art History, Aesthetics, and Painting Department for Higher Studies (Arabic: أستاذ ورئيس قسم تاريخ وفلسفة الفن للدراسات العليا ومواد التصوير بكلية الفنون التطبيقة).
Human Universality and Local Causes
Subjects of paintings reflect a deep concern of social and patriotic issues on a specific level as well as philosophically abstract ones. Emotions which could have been reflected through famous events, were rather drawn in ways which could be by any nation or any place in many of his works. He stripped the players and the place of any specific nation and still could convey the emotions of the situation. Other works have been still more abstract in subject and even theatrical in nature by showing very simple experiential situations which reflects appropriately the more intellectual riddles of this world.For instance, his large-scale painting Struggle of Life depicting few humans around a fallen boulder summarizes humans positions around a crisis put in the form of boulder, and how the humans are dealing with it. Their dresses or lack of it, reflect a universal form which could happen in any society. Another painting titled Nuclear Beast showing a blood-thirsty creature of the like of Alghol of the Arabian Nights put to gigantic levels and walking over ruins of civilization is another one.
In his works, he's focused on the impact of heroes rather than any specific one of them. Ones who could be pioneers and impact their people and who could be belonging to any nation around the world.
His heritage-based work, however, has come a long way by recognizing the ancient Egyptian, Islamic and modern folkloric symbols and sides to the culture. He's used many of such symbols specially in his later works.
As philosophically as his work may have reached and brought him recognition by the elite in Egypt and among his colleagues (and even recognition however limited in the little exposure he has had in Europe), it seemed always to address local concerns with much patriotism and solidarity with the weak. The conflict in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
was among the paramount issues, but also ones related to independence from the British as in one of his masterpieces with an unusually long title of Egypt Breaking Chains and Seeking Its Idol (مصر تحطم الأغلال وتنشد المثل الأعلى).
With such lots of attention which he gave to the subject, Hassan always introduced his actors in the painting in a dramatic context with dynamism with embodiment to human emotion (see his Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
and Shahryar painting).
He also gave attention to architecture in the backgrounds as one of the Classical Art teaching he has got in Europe.
His palette is persistently brown in most works, although had some occasionally blue in some of his early works (see Adam and Eve painting).