Inji Efflatoun (Egyptian, 1924-1989), Black Rooster

(الديك الأسود), oil on canvas, 1983, signed and dated at lower left, inscribed to the stretcher and frame.

Stretcher size 37 1/4 x 21 1/2 in.; Frame dimensions 43 1/2 x 27 3/4 in.

From the Collection of the late Afaf Mahfouz Schieren, Palm Beach, Florida

This painting was gifted to Afaf Mahfouz by Inji Efflatoun. The two women met and became friends while on holiday in Germany in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Inji Efflatoun was a pioneering Egyptian modernist painter and a prominent political activist. Born into an affluent, Francophone family in Cairo, she received early artistic training under members of the Art et Liberté group, whose surrealist and socially engaged ideas shaped her early work. By the 1940s, Efflatoun had become deeply involved in feminist and left-wing movements, publishing tracts on women’s rights and social justice while developing a distinct visual language rooted in everyday Egyptian life.

Her activism led to her imprisonment from 1959 to 1963, a period during which she continued to paint some of her most powerful works. After her release, her style evolved toward brighter, more expansive compositions, yet remained grounded in empathy and social consciousness. Efflatoun exhibited internationally, including at the Venice and São Paulo Biennials, and today her work is recognized as foundational to 20th-century Egyptian art, held in major collections throughout Egypt and the Arab world.

Damage to top right corner of frame; painting is in good estate condition.