The Estate of Wassef Boutros-Ghali
Untitled, 2015
Acrylic on Canvas
46 x 38 in
Untitled, 2005
Acrylic on Canvas
59 x 19.75 in
Untitled, 2016
Acrylic on Canvas
27.5 x 27.5 in
Untitled, 2007
Acrylic on Canvas
46 x 46 in
Untitled, 2003
Acrylic on Canvas
27 x 27 in
Untitled, 2010
Acrylic on Canvas
71 x 23.5 in
Untitled, 2010
Acrylic on Canvas
71 x 23.5 in
The Fish, 1974
Acrylic on Canvas
49.5 x 68.75 in
The Blue Door, 2000
Acrylic on Canvas
46 x 38 in
Study for Horizon VI, 2000
Acrylic on Canvas
20 x 20 in
Horizon XIV, 2003
Acrylic on Canvas
23.25 x 23.25 in
Horizon XIII, 2002
Acrylic on Canvas
27.75 x 27.75 in
Horizon VII, 2000
Acrylic on Canvas
46 x 38 in
Horizon VI, 2000
Acrylic on Canvas
38 x 46 in
Untitled, 1992
Water color on paper
39.5 x 27.5 in
Untitled, 1965
Ink on paper
18 x 14 in
Untitled, 1977
Water color on paper
14.3 x 14.1 in
Untitled, 1970s
Felt pen on paper
17 x 14 in
Untitled, 1970
Water color on paper
18 x 20 in
Untitled, 1967
China Ink on paper
25.5 x 19.5 in
Untitled, 2018
Pen, china ink and felt on paper
19.7 x 27.6 in
Untitled, 2018
Pen, china ink and felt on paper
19.7 x 27.6 in
Untitled, 1965
China Ink on paper
13.8 x 17.8 in
Untitled, 1987
China Ink on paper
19.5 x 14
Underwater, 1993
Pen, ink & water colour on paper
27.5 x 39.25 in
Untitled, 1987
China Ink on paper
19.5 x 14 in
The Last Supper (La Cene), 1987
Pen, ink & water colour on paper
24 x 32 in
The Fish, 2018
Pen, china ink and felt on paper
19.7 x 27.6 in
The Guard, 1968
Brush & Indian Ink on Paper
28 x 20 in
The Beast, 1993
Pen, ink & water colour on paper
24 x 32 in
Encounter, 1987
China Ink on paper
17 x 24.8 in
Regard (Look), 1991
Pen, ink & water colour on paper
27.5 x 39.25 in
Egyptian Wedding, 1972
Felt pen on paper
22.5 x 28.5 in
Autumn I, 1987
Pen, ink & water colour on paper
31.5 x 24 in
Dubai, UAE – Leila Heller Gallery is delighted to announce the upcoming solo exhibition, a curated selection of paintings and works on paper by Wassef Boutros Ghali, titled 'A Retrospective (1965 - 2016)’ opening on 3rd October, 2025.
Spanning several decades, these works reveal Boutros-Ghali’s distinctive balance between architectural order and painterly intuition. In both the large-scale canvases and intimate paper compositions, intersecting planes, subtle tonal shifts, and spatial rhythms evoke a meditative language that transcends geography, rooted in modernist ideals. In both mediums, Boutros-Ghali’s compositions are dynamic; they seem to breathe, their tensions and harmonies suggesting the shifting light, landscapes, and cultural forms that informed his vision. His work resonates with a timeless universality, yet carries the imprint of a life lived between continents.
Architectural forms emerge, collide and reengineer themselves without a narrative in dazzling abstract compositions. With subjects based on mythology, on nuanced observations of daily life or stories conjured with the simplicity of dreams, Boutros-Ghali’s artwork speaks to the pure and unrestricted physicality of painting. Boutros-Ghali challenges the traditional and leading convention of figuration with his commitment to abstraction as a modernist method of self-expression. Each piece demonstrates his mastery in balancing architectural rigor with the sensibility of a painter, transforming pure geometry into a language of contemplation and a constant state of visual flux.
Born in Cairo to a family of statesmen and politicians, Wassef Boutros-Ghali was drawn to the arts at an early age. As a teenager he demonstrated great natural skill as a draftsman. He joined the studio of Jaro Hilbert, a classically trained painter and inspirational teacher. Boutros-Ghali set aside the political legacy of his family and devote himself to a career in architecture, and then turned to painting. Boutros-Ghali served as a technical consultant for the environment and urbanism with the United Nations and executed buildings in Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Sudan, in addition to growing his commitment to his artwork. Initially working in oil on canvas, Wassef Boutros-Ghali’s practice was reshaped by political upheaval and his 1963 relocation, which led him to create a series of china-ink drawings. Their constraints offered refuge and introduced a free-flowing quality that would inform his later work and sustain his lifelong passion for drawing.
A 1971 move to New York marked an awakening. Immersed in the city’s vitality, abstract expressionism and minimalist design, his canvases grew larger, acrylics replaced oils, and figurative improvisations gave way to overt abstraction. In the spirit of Rothko and Reinhardt, surfaces drenched in singular color allowed his geometric forms to come alive. A return to Cairo in 1985 finally allowed Boutros-Ghali the freedom to pursue his practice without interruption. Increasingly the artist sought to harness vibrant color to articulate motion/energy within the box of the canvas. His later compositions reflect a meticulous yet openhearted response to the human condition; marvels of reason buoyed by a lifetime’s worth of lyricism. Wassef Boutros-Ghali passed away on March 15, 2023 at 98 years old in Cairo. He painted every day until his death.