SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Seif Wanly

The Egyptian painter Seif Wanly, born in Alexandria in 1906, worked in Alexandria’s customs archives and began painting with his brother Adham. From 1929, the two brothers studied with Ottorino Bicchi, an Italian painter who had just opened a studio in Alexandria. According to the Mathaf entry, Seif Wanly’s early works recall his teacher’s light brushstrokes; later, his compositions become freer and are structured around broader expanses and vivid colours, in an approach close to Fauvism. His work comprises more than a thousand paintings, drawings and sketches.

The stage occupies an important place in this body of work: he paints the circus, ballet, opera, concerts and bullfighting, as well as sporting activities, particularly horse racing. On stage and backstage, he focuses on depicting performers in motion. This interest continues in his work for theatre and opera, for which he designs several sets in Egypt.

His landscapes depict Egypt and the countries he visits — Spain, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland and Russia. He also paints traditional Nubian villages before their inundation. In 1959, the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance commissions the Wanly brothers, together with other artists, to document Nubian architectural heritage before its submersion associated with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. In Alexandria, he is appointed professor in the painting department of the Faculty of Fine Arts when it is established in 1957.

He exhibits with Adham at the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria in 1958; a retrospective of his work is presented there in 1974. His works can be seen, among other places, at the Seif and Adham Wanly Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Alexandria, the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art in Cairo, the Mathaf in Doha, the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah and the Dalloul Art Foundation in Beirut. He dies in Stockholm in 1979 while preparing an exhibition of Scandinavian landscapes.

This profile brings together identity references for Seif Wanly and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

4 references are documented at Germann, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Germann

The sylphs, 1955

Oil on cardboard

Original catalogue wording

Les Silphides, 1955
Öl auf Karton.

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

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Piguet

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,

Gouache

Original catalogue wording

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,
gouache

Catalogue period : 2013-12-11

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

Estimate : CHF 200–300

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Piguet

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,

Gouache

Original catalogue wording

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,
gouache

Catalogue period : 2012-12-12

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

Estimate : CHF 200–300

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Piguet

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,

Gouache

Original catalogue wording

Prélude de l'après-midi d'un faune,
gouache

Catalogue period : 2012-03-13

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

Estimate : CHF 200–300

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Sources and references

• Reference record
• LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
• Documentary source

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19