Cairo Times best describes Leila Izzet as an artist who, unlike many of her contemporaries, didn't go the traditional art school route into the world of art. Strangely for an artist famed for her abstract paintings, Leila learned about painting from Zorian, an Armenian realist painter who ran a successful art academy at No. 7 (bis) Kasr al-Nil Street, Cairo during the 1950s.

"He was a very good teacher," explains Leila. "He could see what you needed and pushed you in your own way,"-- quite different from contemporary teachers who liked to produce schools of thought following their own visions.

The Cairo born great-grandaughter of Viceroy Mohammed Ali exhibited paintings for over forty years. A great lover of animals she first became known as a painter of horses before moving onto expressionist and becoming famous as an abstract artist in the 1990s.

Leila Izzet has to her credit solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, and Switzerland and participated in biennials in Iraq, Madrid and Croatia. Her work has been in many exhibitions of contemporary Egyptian art across the globe. She has also taken part in exhibitions celebrating women's art including an art show each at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and at the Beijing UN's Women's Conference in 1995.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1960   Hilton Gallery - Cairo
1964-68   Akhenaton Gallery - Cairo
1966   Stadelhofen Gallery - Zurich
1970   De Beaune Gallery (S. de Coninck Group) - Paris
1972   Gallery of Fine Arts - Cairo
1976   Cutural Center of the Arab Republic of Egypt - Paris
1981   Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum - Cairo
1983   French Cultural Center - Cairo
1984   Egyptian Touffice - New York
1984   Artist's Corner - Maadi
1993   Al-Hanager Art Center - Cairo
1999   50-Years Retro-Gallery - Zamalek, Cairo
2000   Safar Khan Gallery - Zamalek, Cairo
2002   Safar Khan Gallery - Zamalek, Cairo
2004   Safar Khan Gallery - Zamalek, Cairo
2006   Safar Khan Gallery - Zamalek, Cairo

above: at work in her Maadi atelier
below: preparing for March 2006 exhibition

GROUP AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

1960-73   Cairo Salon
1967-1973   Gallery of Fine Arts, Cairo
1969-73   International Biennale of Sport - Madrid
1969   Paris Biennale + African Festival - Algeirs
1970-74   Biennale of Mediterranean Countries, Alexandria
1970   International Festival of Painting, Cagnes sur Mer - France
1971-74   III & IV Biennale of Merignac
1971   Galleria Museum - Paris
1971    Clichy Exhibition (Suzanne de Coninck Group) - Paris
1972    Arab Exhibition - Syria - Kenya
1973    Egyptian Exhibition - Maduradam - The Hague
1973    Exhibition of Egyptian Art - Nika Gallery - Japan
1974    1st Biennale of Baghdad - Iraq
1974    The Arab Week - Tubigen - Germany
1975    Salon of Women Painters - Museum of Modern art - Paris
1975    10 Women Painters, Arab Socialist Union - Cairo
1975    Egyptian Women Painters - Gallery of Fine Arts - Paris
1976    Contemporary Egyptian Art - Grand Palais - Paris
1976    International Exhibition of Graphic Art - FIAP - Paris
1976    II Arab Biennale - Casablanca
1977    88th Exhibition of Independent Painters - Gand Palais - Paris
1977    Union Women Painters & Sculptures - Luxemboourg Museum - Paris
1977    Exhibition of Egyptian Art - Mantes-La-Jolie - France
1977    IX Int'l Painting Festival - Chateau Musee - Cagnes Sur Mer - France
1977    50th Salon of Cairo
1978    10th Exhibition of Plastic Art - Gallery of Fine Arts - Cairo
1978    Spring Salon - Cairo
1979    Contemporary Egyptian Art - Sikairus Forum - Mexico
1970    Contemporary Egyptian Art - Bucharest - Romania
1980    Union of Women Painters & Sculptors - Luxembourg Museum - Paris
1983    Midfest International Celebration - Middletown, Ohio - USA
1994    Modern Egyptian Art - Slovenia
1995    Exhibition of Egyptian Women, Peking Conference, - China
1996    International Women Exhibition - Hungary
1997    Salon 97 - Heliopolis, Cairo
1999    Biennale of Dubrovnik for Mediterranean Countries

Born in 1933 Leila Izzet is the latest among several artists from among the Mohammed Ali dynasty. Unlike her predecessors who were constrained by family tradition and obligations during the monarchy days, she went public with her first exhibition appearing after 1952.