About Subscribe Submit news Get in touch
 
Home Opinion In depth Video LIVE news Interviews Company profiles Events diary Jobs
Cairo art museum reopens a decade after Van Gogh theft | Planet Attractions
     

news

Cairo art museum reopens a decade after Van Gogh theft

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum boasts an impressive collection of Impressionist and Classical works




The museum is offering free entry throughout April to celebrate its reopening   Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt, has reopened to the public after a decade-long closure.

Through the years, the museum has been the target of a number of art heists, including the theft of Van Gogh’s Poppy Flowers. The painting, worth an estimated US$55m (€46m, £40m), was first stolen in 1977 but was recovered 10 years later. It was then stolen from the museum for a second time in August 2010, leading to the museum’s decade-long closure.

The reopening was inaugurated by Egyptian Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, who described the museum as an ‘enrichment of Egypt’s cultural infrastructure’ and ‘one of the world’s rare artistic collections’.

The museum, located in Kafour Street, is housed inside a spectacular Art Nouveau building overlooking the River Nile. It boasts an impressive collection of Impressionist, Romantic and Classical works, including pieces by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gaugin, Berthe Morisot, Édouard Manet, Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix and Claude Monet.

The collection also features several works by Egyptian artists, as well as a host of porcelain vases and antiques from France, Turkey, Iran and China.

In relation to the thefts, in October 2010, an Egyptian court convicted 11 culture ministry employees, including the former deputy culture minister Mohsen Shaalan, of professional delinquency and negligence. Each was given a three-year jail sentence, with Shalalan serving a year in prison due to the lax security in the museum, while the others were released on bail.

Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil

Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Bey (1877 - 1953) was an Egyptian politician and avid art collector. Throughout his career, he served as minister of agriculture and president of the Egyptian Senate, he also founded the Society of Lovers of Fine Arts.

Khalil Bey also worked towards improving cultural relations between Egypt and France, organising the Egyptian pavilion at the Paris International Fair in 1937. In 1949 he was elected a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

He met his French wife Emilienne Luce (1881 - 1960) while studying in Paris. It was Luce who loved the arts and collecting, and her passions became his.

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum was Khalil’s gift to his wife, who bestowed the building and all its possessions to the Egyptian government to become a museum of art following her death.

To celebrate its reopening, the museum is offering free entry to members of the public throughout April.


Museums and galleries

 

Disney agrees settlement with DeSantis backed board over Florida governance dispute





Merlin makes major acquisition of The Wheel at Icon Park





Saudi Arabia lands latest major IP with announcement of world-first Dragon Ball theme park




Industry insights



Spatial Sound, Immersive Audio: What is it and is it here to stay?



Video



WATCH: Steve Drake on accesso’s expanding portfolio


In Depth



Mundo Amazonia: Exploring Bellewaerde Park’s new themed area for 2024



© Kazoo 5 Limited 2024
About Subscribe Get in touch
 
Opinion In depth Interviews
LIVE news Profiles Diary Video
Jobs
Cairo art museum reopens a decade after Van Gogh theft | Planet Attractions
news

Cairo art museum reopens a decade after Van Gogh theft

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum boasts an impressive collection of Impressionist and Classical works




The museum is offering free entry throughout April to celebrate its reopening   Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt, has reopened to the public after a decade-long closure.

Through the years, the museum has been the target of a number of art heists, including the theft of Van Gogh’s Poppy Flowers. The painting, worth an estimated US$55m (€46m, £40m), was first stolen in 1977 but was recovered 10 years later. It was then stolen from the museum for a second time in August 2010, leading to the museum’s decade-long closure.

The reopening was inaugurated by Egyptian Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem, who described the museum as an ‘enrichment of Egypt’s cultural infrastructure’ and ‘one of the world’s rare artistic collections’.

The museum, located in Kafour Street, is housed inside a spectacular Art Nouveau building overlooking the River Nile. It boasts an impressive collection of Impressionist, Romantic and Classical works, including pieces by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gaugin, Berthe Morisot, Édouard Manet, Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix and Claude Monet.

The collection also features several works by Egyptian artists, as well as a host of porcelain vases and antiques from France, Turkey, Iran and China.

In relation to the thefts, in October 2010, an Egyptian court convicted 11 culture ministry employees, including the former deputy culture minister Mohsen Shaalan, of professional delinquency and negligence. Each was given a three-year jail sentence, with Shalalan serving a year in prison due to the lax security in the museum, while the others were released on bail.

Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil

Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Bey (1877 - 1953) was an Egyptian politician and avid art collector. Throughout his career, he served as minister of agriculture and president of the Egyptian Senate, he also founded the Society of Lovers of Fine Arts.

Khalil Bey also worked towards improving cultural relations between Egypt and France, organising the Egyptian pavilion at the Paris International Fair in 1937. In 1949 he was elected a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

He met his French wife Emilienne Luce (1881 - 1960) while studying in Paris. It was Luce who loved the arts and collecting, and her passions became his.

The Mr & Mrs Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum was Khalil’s gift to his wife, who bestowed the building and all its possessions to the Egyptian government to become a museum of art following her death.

To celebrate its reopening, the museum is offering free entry to members of the public throughout April.


 



© Kazoo 5 Limited 2024