Born in Cairo in 1966, Omar Abdel Zaher currently lives and works in the city. He graduated from the Fine Arts Graphic Department at Menia University in 1991, subsequently completing a Masters degree in Fine Arts in Graphic Design, and a PhD in Fine Art that focused on Egyptian and Iraqi art. Zaher is a member of the Fine Artists’ Association and of the Cairo Atelier. He has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in Egypt and internationally. Recent international group exhibitions include an exhibition of Egyptian art in Sarajevo (2002); an exhibition of Contemporary Egyptian Art in Athens (2004); the Third International Exhibition in Bolivia (1995) and The Fifth Cairo International Biennale (1994). Zaher’s work is held in the collections of the Egyptian Modern Art Museum, Cairo and the Cultural Development Fund, Egypt. Omar Abdel Zaher’s work finds inspiration in stories from Egyptian folklore, while also looking to the daily lives of characters from the Egyptian countryside. In his idyllic compositions, figures are often depicted in various states of courtship, or in scenes of celebration such as at the occasion of a wedding, in addition to depictions of quotidian tasks such as the fetching of water from a well. The featured lot that depicts a man in repose references Pharaonic portraiture, but the presence of a radio, and a tumbler of tea in the scene situate both the subject and the viewer into current time.