Rateb Seddik (Egypt, 1917-1994)
The Legacy of Eve
oil on canvas
executed circa 1960s-1970s
77 x 110cm (30 5/16 x 43 5/16in).
Footnotes:
'The Curse of Eve'
A major 1960's oil painting by pioneering Egyptian Surrealist Rateb Seddik and the first work by the artist ever to appear at auction

'To the woman he said, 'I will greatly increase your toils in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you'' - Genesis

Provenance:
Property from a private collection, Egypt
Formerly in the collection of Dr Mohamed Mahmoud Fakhry, Saudi Arabia
thence by descent to his heirs, Egypt

Bonhams are proud to present one of the rarest examples of Egyptian Surrealism to come to the market and the first appearance at auction of a work by Rateb Seddik. An emotive and striking composition, 'The Legacy of Eve' is a superlative example of Seddik's signature surrealist paintings portraying grouped figures. Depicting the Biblical episode of the Curse of Eve and the divine punishment of pain in childbirth, Seddik weaves an imaginative and symbolic expression of the suffering of womankind in a style which combines classical and modern artistic elements.

According to the Bible, the Curse of Eve refers to the punishment that God inflicted upon Eve and all womankind after she disobeyed His command not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. As a result of her actions, God pronounced a series of curses upon Eve and Adam, with Eve's curse specifically relating to childbirth and her relationship with her husband.

The curse states that 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you' (Genesis 3:16). This curse is understood to mean that women will suffer physical pain and discomfort during childbirth, and that they will also experience a subordinate role in their relationships with men.

The Curse of Eve has been interpreted in many different ways over the centuries, with some seeing it as a literal punishment for Eve's disobedience, however in Seddik's powerful composition we can perhaps read the Curse of Eve framed as a metaphorical representation of the challenges that women face in patriarchal societies. In some religious traditions, the curse has been used to justify the subjugation of women and their exclusion from positions of power and authority.

The foreground of the image is dominated by a procession of female figures and infants, depicted in a state of distress. Their faces are twisted with pain and anguish, and bodies is contorted in a way that reflects the gravity of the generational suffering imposed on them by the Biblical curse.

Behind the female figures, a surrealist landscape of vibrant colours animals and fantastical architecture is joined with an Egyptian looking group of palm trees by a riverside, creating a dream-like atmosphere that is typical of Seddik's surrealist style.

The painting not only reflects Seddik's signature emotionally charged style of figuration but shows clear stylistic inspiration from great renaissance depictions of the fall of man and the expulsion from the garden, a perennial subject in old master painting with notable examples from Michelangelo and Massacio.

Rateb Seddik was a visionary artist who studied at both Chelsea College of Art in London, where he was a student of the English surrealist painter Robert Medley, and later in Paris where he studied with Fernand Leger. Seddik became a member of the Art et Liberté and participated in the group's major exhibition, entitled 'For Independent Art', held on May 12, 1944, at the Lyceé Francais School in Cairo. Seddiks work, despite having featured in major institutional exhibitions, has never before appeared at auction, a testament to its extreme rarity; the present work therefore provides collectors with the chance of acquiring one of the finest examples from an artist whose work is seldom available.
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