Marguerite Nakhla: Legacy to Modern Egyptian Art

Client: St. Mark’s Coptic Museum, Scarborough, Ontario (2009)

Project: Marguerite Nakhla: Legacy to Modern Egyptian Art by Fr. Marcos A. Marcos, Helene Moussa, and Carolyn Ramzy

Specialty: Marguerite Nakhla was born in 1908 and passed away in 1977. She is considered one of the pioneers of the twentieth-century Modern Egyptian Art Movement. In 1975 she was recognized as the leading Egyptian woman artist in the first half of that century. Her canvases offer us a mosaic of the life that surrounded her. She intentionally used different styles to best interpret the subject matter of the paintings and to best communicate her message(s). Within this diversity, one cannot fail to recognize how the touch of her brush and the use of her colours evoked a deeper meaning in the language and poetry of her art. This book reproduces and discusses eighty of her works. St. Mark's Coptic Museum is fortunate to have in its collection a series of six biblical scenes in folkloric style in which she reinvented early Coptic art in modern form. Marguerite Nakhla’s legacy is that of an accomplished artist who used her technical skills to create a compelling repertoire of paintings and icons.


The TEC editorial team assisted Helene Moussa in assembling this beautiful collection of images – represented in over 40 colour plates throughout the book. We edited and proofread the manuscript copy, carefully edited the descriptive captions accompanying the images, making sure they were cross-referenced properly in the text, and carefully proofread the final pages – ensuring that the files reached the printer on schedule.

 

“Many people have been directly and indirectly involved in the creation of this book … My deepest appreciation goes to … Beth McAuley of The Editing Company for her professional, meticulous, and wise editorial advice.”

~ Acknowledgements, Helene Moussa, Volunteer Curator