Rider with Horse and Three Figures
Mixed media painting on burlap or coarse textile support • Abdel Moneim Metawie (signed in Arabic script upper left 'عبد المنعم مطاوع ٦٦')
Style & Movement
Modern Egyptian Art, Folk-inspired Expressionism, Arab Modernism
Medium & Technique
Mixed media including oil or heavy pigment, possibly gouache or tempera applied thickly onto a coarse woven fabric canvas with visible texture and crude outlining techniques.
Creation Period
1966
Dimensions & Format
Estimated medium-to-large scale rectangular landscape format (approximately 80 x 100 cm)
Subject Description
A figurative composition depicting a horseman on the left holding a white bird (dove) and wearing a flowing green and white robe, facing a group of three standing figures on the right draped in stark white garments resembling traditional djellabas or shrouds with stylized, mask-like faces.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
Fair. The painting shows significant structural issues including severe creasing, folding, canvas sagging, and surface abrasions inherent to the fragile, unprimed coarse textile support.
Estimated Market Value
$5,000 - $15,000
Auction Estimate
$3,000 - $8,000
Provenance History
Directly signed and dated by the Egyptian artist Abdel Moneim Metawie in 1966. Likely sourced from a regional Middle Eastern art collection or estate sale.
Art Historical Significance
Reflects the mid-20th-century movement in Egyptian modern art where artists looked toward Coptic, Pharaonic, and regional folkloric motifs, merging indigenous visual traditions with European modernist abstraction and expressionism.
Notable Features
Distinctive Arabic signature and date '66' in the upper left corner, highly textured coarse burlap surface, primitive mask-like facial features reminiscent of Coptic or Pharaonic iconography, and a striking contrasting color palette of earthy greens, reds, and stark whites.
Condition Issues
Prominent horizontal and vertical fold lines, cracking of the thick pigment layer along crease lines, frayed edges, surface dust accumulation, and potential flaking of the brittle paint layers.
Conservation Recommendations
Professional humidification and gentle flattening to reduce creasing, careful consolidation of flaking pigment along fold lines, archival lining onto a stable secondary support, and framing with UV-filtering museum glass under controlled environmental conditions (50% RH, stable temperature).