Wadie El Mahdy
(1921 - 2000)

Wadie Mahdy Biography
(1921 - 2000)

Born in Cairo, Egypt, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Cairo, under the late Prof. Ahmed Sabry and Prof. Bikar Huessen (1940-46) and at The Italian Academy of Fine Arts, Cairo under Prof. Robert. He then joined the staff of the Cairo Municipality, Department of Architecture, where he worked as an artist painter and architectural draftsman. In 1950, he won the Luxor Prize of a two-year study grant at the Luxor Art Studio. After he finished this study, he went back to work for the Cairo Municipality while he also acted as art adviser for the Al Kahera newspaper. He became Professor of Fine Arts in 1962 at the Lycée La Liberté, where he taught drawing and painting. The following year, he won a scholarship from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, Cairo. He continued to work for the Cairo Municipality until 1964.

He arrived in Canada in 1966 and held his first one-man show in Montreal at the Dominion Gallery. His work, as noted by Dr. Max Stern, reminds one of Vuillard and Bonnard. His awards include: Ministry of Commerce Art Competition, Cairo (1957); Atta Afifi Prize, Cairo Salon (1958); International Cotton Community Market Award (1958); Cairo Salon Prize, Cairo (1960) and the two other awards already mentioned. He is represented in the following public collections: The Museum of Modern Art, Cairo; The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo, The National Bank of Egypt, Cairo; U.A.R. and the U.S.A. Educational Exchange Commission, Fulbright Committee, Cairo; The Ford Foundation, Cairo; The Ministry of Education, Cairo; and in the private collections of many diplomats including John Slocum (Former American Cultural Attaché); Mr. Erwin Wonderhofer (Dir. Pfizer Co., Cairo); Mrs. Carol Gomez (Foreign Serv. of U.S.A.); Mr. H.H. Power (Austin, Texas); Dr. Thomas Firor (Baltimore, Maryland) and in many Canadian collections.

Literature Source:
"A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume 4: Little - Myles", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1978