The Mukhtar Museum, Cairo

The Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum is dedicated to the works of Mahmoud Mukhtar, regarded as one of the finest sculptors in the country and the founder of the modern art movement in Egypt. It has over 85 sculptures in bronze, stone and plaster, painstakingly worked by Mukhtar.

Mahmoud Mukhtar was a world renowned Egyptian sculptor who wrought many modern landmark monuments of national importance in Egypt. He was born in 1891 in a small village called Nesha in the Nile delta. He moved to Cairo to study at the School of fine Arts and later went to the Ecole de Beaux Artes in Paris. He well known works are the statue called The Nahdet Misr, located in front of the Cairo university bridge and the two statues of Saad Zaghlul that are located in Cairo and Alexandria respectively.

The Mahmoud Mukhtar building was designed by Egyptian architect, Ramses, Wissa Wassef. It has two floors displaying some of his best works. Well known sculptures on display are the Sadness Statue, the Cataract Daughter, Return from the River, the Alkhmasin, To beloved, Secrets Keeper and Murmuring. The museum remained a neglected repository of the works of the famous sculptor until 2003 when it was renovated and opened to the public and international visitors.