Learn about the history, holdings of Al-Gezira Museum at Egypt’s Opera House

CAIRO – 2 February 2022: Al-Gezira Museum of Art is one of the most important art museums affiliated to the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.

The museum, which has been closed for 32 years, has been redeveloped over the past years, in preparation for its opening in 2022.

Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil came up with the idea to establish Al-Gezira Museum of Art in 1925. He purchased many of the exhibits of a joint Egyptian- foreign exhibition while he was the head of the Association of Fine Arts.

The museum was built in 1936. It was designed by the famous Egyptian engineer Mustafa Fahmy in a very distinctive style, was implemented by an Italian company, and was opened by King Farouk.

The museum hosts about 1,300 paintings and some of them date back to the 15th century. All of the museum's paintings bear the names of the most-esteemed artists in the world.

The museum houses priceless paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Claude Manet, Picasso, and John Constable, in addition to a group of ancient Coptic icons, a collection of ancient Chinese and Japanese ceramics and rare sublime pieces.

It is also worth mentioning that the museum is home to a rug of which only three pieces were made worldwide.