Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 9 March 2017

Inji Efflatoun’s “Contemplation”: A psychologically charged work from a groundbreaking surrealist artist

Inji Efflatoun’s legacy is equal parts artistic and political. Born in 1924 to an upper-class Egyptian family, she actively advocated for women’s rights and subscribed to Communist ideologies that both fueled her groundbreaking painting style and landed her in prison under Gamal Abdel Nasser’s rule. Inspired by “the social reality of the people of the Egyptian working class,” Efflatoun produced a number of “existentialist, psychologically charged” works throughout her younger years as a surrealist artist. Above is one of Efflatoun’s pieces, Contemplation (1940), which Mada Masr’s Ismail Fayed describes as “a voluptuous ink-on-paper urbanscape overwhelming several mysterious figures.” You can take a look at more of Efflatoun’s work featured in the SafarKhan Art Gallery here.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.