Museum of Mohamed Mahmood & Emilienne Khalil
Impressionists' abode in Cairo
The collectors' mania at its best !
Text and photos in colour © Iannis Kallianiotis, (unless otherwise specified)
A mansion stands on the Nile's riverside, like an elegant dollhouse amidst modern constructions.
It contains the treasures amassed by the couple of art collectors Mohamed Mahmood Khalil Bey (1877-1953) and Emilienne Ηector Luce (1881-1960) and finally bequeathed to the Egyptian State and their fellow citizens.
The house was built between 1901 and 1907 (date on the immense stained glass of the stairway), by Raphael Suares, banker of Jewish origin (1846-1909). Sold to Prince Omar Halim, it came to the possession of Mahmood Khalil in the 1920's (information selected in egy.com amidst the valuable recollections of Samir Raafat).
Khalil Bey, born of an Egyptian father and a Greek mother, followed French schools in Egypt and continued with law in Paris' Sorbonne.
There he met in 1903, Emilienne, a student at the Conservatoire. After her short passage from the theatre scene of Nantes, they were married this same year, and spent a lifetime in their common passion of collecting art.
In Cairo they first stayed on Rue Kasr El Nil, then they bought the mansion in question at 1, Rue Kafour, in Dokki, a neighborhood of villas amidst luxuriant gardens.
Mohamed Mahmood Khalil, heir to an important fortune and a shrewd businessman, was active also in politics. Minister of the Wafd party on many occasions, became the Senate's Speaker.
Co-founder with Prince Youssef Kamal of "Société des Amis des Arts", he was its president in 1924 and 1925. In 1927 he became president of the Fine Arts' Advisory Committee to the Ministry of Education. (Information from the article of Nadine Nour El Din in Rasseef22.net)
The opposition of the British, deprived him of the title of "Pasha" .
The Khalil couple in a function of "Société des Amis des Arts"
Emilienne, in presence of ladies of the Royal Court, wears a hat and "yasmak" of white organza, low on the chin. If needed it can be held higher on the nose, covering part of the face.
Inauguration of 19th century French sculpture exhibition at the Institut Francais, Cairo, in presence of Queen Farida. At the right Khalil Bey, 25.2.1939.
The mansion amidst its lavish gardens
Only a slice of the old gardens subsist. A narrow corridor conducts us to the mansion's entrance and there awaits Mohamed Mahmood Khalil Bey, with his usual sullen expression.
Standing by him, all smiles the Museum's Director Saleh Hamed, visual artist.
He was kind enough to provide us with one of the few remaining Museum's small catalogues, when it first opened its gates in 1962. It contains photographs of the rooms exactly in the state inhabited by the couple of the generous donors. That was the way, stipulated in Emilienne Khalil's will, that the collections should be exposed.
A capharnaum of treasures, that one can witness only in the houses of grand collectors.
A mixture of grand style furniture, paintings, sculptures and innumerable objets d'art.
An iron clad entrance, befitting for such a vault of the Arts
The tale of the collection and the donation goes approximately as follows:
In 1947, Khalil Bey bequeaths by notarial act the mansion, the collections and their annexes to his wife Emilienne Luce.
By this deed the above are deducted from his inheritable fortune.
The reason will become clear only in 1953, when at his death, a second marital contract will be revealed precisely in 1947. This revelation will be accompanied by legal actions by the 2nd wife concerning financial assets and a demand of a paternity recognition of a son born in 1947.
To the 1947 notarial act Khalil Bey added a special codicil to his will, only one week before his death in 1953, where he provides additional financial means to his wife of 50 years, to ensure her financial independence and the protection of the collections. He was well aware of the pretentions of the 2nd wife and medical information that excluded him of any eventual paternity.
Justice, recognized the notarial act of 1947, part of the 1953 codicil, but also the paternity of a son. (DNA tests came some decades later).
Η Emilienne Luce (right) at a reception in her mansion
Emilienne Luce bequeathed by will the mansion, its collections and annexes to the Egyptian State, under the condition that the collections stay in the mansion and be exposed exactly in the collectors' way.
Those conditions were respected at the Museum's opening in 1962
But, in 1971 ...
President Anwar El Sadat moved in to the mansion across the street (above picture) and demanded that the Presidency's services be housed in the Khalil mansion.
The collections were stored at the sequestrated mansion of Prince Amr Ibrahim, and the installation of presidential offices and equipment made vanish any palatial patina. In the gardens a concrete bunker was erected cum helipad to secure presidential transport.
The assassination of President Sadat in 1981 and the reorganization of the Presidency under President Mubarak, changed again the perspectives.
The Museum opened again in 1992.
In the meantime, in 1977 "The poppies" by Van Gogh have been stolen. The painting was retrieved a decade later.
"The poppies" by Van Gogh
In 2010, the same painting was cut off from its frame and vanished. Hasn't been retrieved yet.
Redesigning of security systems, aeration and climatization installations started in 2014. Museological studies resulted to a new presentation of the collections.
The Museum we visited in May 2025, opened its gates in 2021.
The Fine Arts Sector of the Egyptian State offers the following virtual visit of the Museum, in Arabic, English or French, through this link:
Museum Panorama - Fine Arts Sector
Let's start now our own visit
At the entrance lobby, the collector's portrait by Marie-Gabrielle Biessy
and the benefactress' portrait by Jean Edmond Aman
Bust of Saad Pasha Zaghloul by Serge Yourievitch
The bust at its original spot
Every artwork is accompanied by a label in Arabic & English
Descriptions of artworks in this article reproduce the contents of those labels
After the entrance lobby the reception rotunda
A sculpture by Auguste Rodin, in the center
On the left, the stairway with the gigantic stained glass
The big reception drawing rooms at the basement are no more overcharged with antique furnishings and juxtaposition of objects. They appear now as minimalistic exhibition halls, for the important Chinese, Japanese and Turkish porcelain collections.
In the middle of one of the drawing rooms a Louis XVI table with two orientalist busts of Charles-Henry Cordier and a plaster study.
The original placement of the Louis XVI table
Charles-Henry Cordier (1827-1905)
Cheikh
Plaster study
Charles Henri Joseph Cordier (1827-1905)
A young woman peasant
On the left side of the same drawing room
Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828)
Portrait bust of a lady, plaster
On the right side
Jean Baptiste Carpeaux
The upper part of the original "the Danse"
White marble
In the midst of an enormous chest
Amphore Romaine
Verre soufflé , 1er siècle A.C.
At the side of the same chest
A frame with the photographic portrait of the collector
dressed in the uniform of the French Academy
sporting the Grand Cordon and Star of the Legion d'Honneur
In the next drawing room on an oval luxurious table
a caricature collection of the Bey !
On another table a caricature sculpture of the Bey and two of his friends, as three tarboosh laden musketeers.
Unfortunately no other details are given οn the two other musketeers' identity...
The spirit of self mockery wasn't lost with the Bey...
Mohamed Hassan
The three musketeers, bronze
The original version of that drawing room
On one of the walls, this magnificent tapestry
The tapestry's original surroundings
It is time to climb up the magnificent staircase
Climbing the stairway "in auld times"
The family rooms on the 1rst floor and the personnel abode on the 2nd, are transformed to a sleek gallery for the superb painting collection, interrupted from time to another by elegant sculptures and objets d'art of the extreme Orient.
A view of the 1rst floor
Edgar Degas
Portrait of a young woman
Claude Monet
A bridge on a pond
Pierre Auguste Renoir
With the white neck-scarf
Pierre Auguste Renoir
Head of a child
Francois Auguste René Rodin, head of Victor Hugo
Eugène Delacroix
Mazeppa
(The Ukrainian warrior and his punishment)
Eugène Delacroix
Etudes de fleurs avec glycine
Eugène Delacroix
Tiger
Maurice Utrillo
Rue Royale in Paris
Constant Troyon
Swimming
Sculptures on crystal de roche and other precious minerals
Constant Troyon
Pastures
Camille Pissarro
Laundresses
Camille Pissarro
Bird market
Camille Pissarro
Afternoon in autumn
Louis Gustave Ricard
Madame Ernest Feydeau
Camille Pissarro
Cricket at Bedford Park
Camille Pissarro
Oise rivershore at Pontoise
Camille Pissarro
Ice under the sunrays
The paintings in the original family rooms
Iris
Théodule Augustin Ribot
Portrait of a young man
Théodule Augustin Ribot
Children in travestied dresses
Giuseppe de Nittis
Portrait of a young woman
Arrow shooter
Eugène Carrière
Sick child
Eugène Carrière
Motherhood
Eugène Carrière
The child and the casserole
Francois Auguste René Rodin
The triumph of youth
Gustave Courbet
Portrait of a man
Gustave Courbet
The guard Marechal
Gustave Courbet
Apple tree in blossom
Gustave Courbet
Siesta
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas
Makeup (la toilette)
Mary Cassatt
Child
Miniatures in precious minerals
Then we stand before a showcase with multiple racks
Miniature paintings of various techniques are displayed
Some, with dedications to the lady of the house
The treasures of the Khalil library. No indication as of their whereabouts
We return to large paintings
Jean-Edmond Aman
Confidences
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot
Squatting girl
Gustave Moreau
Salomé at the garden
Puvis de Chavannes
Muses
Eugène Lami
Reception at Versailles Palace
Félix Ziem
Landscape
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A showcase with the miniatures and Mme Feydeau's portrait
Henri Toulouse Lautrec
Singing lesson
Francois Auguste René Rodin
A statue from the monumental composition "Les Bourgeois de Calais"
Narcisse Diaz
The sun of the tempest
Detail
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Portrait of Miss Lefilleul
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Riverbank
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875)
Jean Batiste Carpeaux
Suzanne's surprise
Henri Joseph Harpignies
Shadows in the forest
Charles Francois Daubigny
Moon rise
Unknown
Landscape
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917)
Balzac
Paolo Forcella (1868- ?)
Nomadic woman
Franz Xaver Winterhalter
Portrait of the Princess Wagram
Detail
The Princess Wagram "at Court"
Theodor Rousseau (1812-1867)
Boats
Antoine Louis Barye
Daniel Joseph Bacque
A peasant and his donkey making for Segovia market
Alfred Sisley
Seine at sunrise
Alfred Sisley
Moret in autumn
Francois Auguste René Rodin
Fatigue
Paul Gaugin
Life and death
Paul Gaugin
Scene from Dominique
Claude Monet
Westminster and the obelisk of Cleopatra
Claude Monet
Inside the forest
Henri Lebasque
Swing
Antoine Louis Barye
Thessée battles the Minotaure
Auguste Renoir
Auguste Renoir
Vineyards at Cagnes
Antoine Louis Barye
Thessée attacks the Centaur
Eugène Delacroix
Death of the warrior
Eugène Delacroix
Arab chieftain
Johan Jonkind
Moonlight
Eugène Louis Boudin
Seashore at Trouville
Eugène Louis Boudin
Laundresses in Deauville
Charles Cottet
Study of women from Bretagne (Bretonnes)
Charles Cottet
Heads of women from Bretagne (Bretonnes)
Charles Cottet
Apples and figs
Honoré Daumier
Woman sleeps under a tree
Charles Cottet
Pink sales
Honoré Daumier
Don Quixote
Claude Monet
Seine at Argenteuil
Claude Monet
Nymphéas
Alfred Sisley
Country life at the end of May
Jean Francois Millet
Forester
Jean Francois Millet
Laundresses
Jean Francois Millet
Harvest
Jean Francois Millet
Awake
Detail
Jean Francois Millet
The artist's home and garden at Barbizon
Théodore Chasseriau
An Arab horse rider
Joseph Thomas Adolphe Monticelli
Promenade in the park
Georges Antoine Prosper Marillhat
Old Cairo
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Fatima
Detail
Eugène Fromentin or Fromentin Dupeux
The Nile in upper Egypt
Jean Jacques Henner
Madeleine kneeling
Jean Jacques Henner
Saint Sebastien in the tomb
Japanese snuff boxes
Fantin Latour
Fantin Latour
Flowers and lilacs
Au revoir...
We bid goodbye with the mansion's view from the Nile
Text and photographs in colour © Iannis Kallianiotis (unless otherwise specified)
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