Acclaimed Egyptian painter George Bahgory creates cubist- style paintings that tap into the colourful history of Egyptian popular culture and heritage.

Beginning his career as a cartoonist in the late 1950s for a magazine called Rose El Youssef, Bahgory’s figurative style, sarcasm, and political awareness and satire infiltrated his later transition to painting. Among a generation of cartoonists that promoted the Nasserist ideology of Pan-Arabism, women’s rights and national reform, Bahgory infuses his artworks with the residue of Egyptian national history and culture. Periodically using references to popular icons of the era, like diva Umm Kalthoum, in his painted works, Bahgory’s paintings playfully evoke a sense of deep nostalgia, historical reflection and cultural preservation. “With every stroke of the brush I recall an Egypt that I don’t want to disappear,” Bahgory said in an interview with Al Ahram newspaper.

After completing a degree at Egypt’s Fine Arts Institute, Bahgory left his home country in the early 1970s to study at the Fine Arts Institute of Paris, where he lived for the following three decades. Receiving numerous prestigious awards, Bahgory has published six books, three of which were dedicated to art. Bahgory’s work has been showcased internationally, including in the Middle East and Europe.