The Shafik Gabr
Collection
18th & 19th Century Orientalist Masterworks
About the Collection
Art as the original dialogue
M. Shafik Gabr is recognised as one of the world’s largest collectors of Orientalist art, amassing a unique and extensive collection that captures the beauty, culture, and history of the Middle East and North Africa.
His collection showcases masterpieces from the 18th and 19th centuries, reflecting the works of prominent Orientalist Traveller Painters who were captivated by the region’s vibrant landscapes, traditions, and people.
Through his dedication and passion for preserving and sharing these historical artworks, Gabr has significantly contributed to fostering cultural appreciation and understanding of the Orientalist movement on a global scale.
The collection is not merely decorative — it is the philosophical foundation of the East-West initiative itself. The Orientalist Traveller Painters were, in their own way, the first cultural diplomats.
Ludwig Deutsch
The Offering
1895 · Oil on canvas
Ludwig Deutsch
The Offering
1895 · Oil on canvas
Ludwig Deutsch
The Offering
1895 · Oil on canvas
Ludwig Deutsch
The Offering
1895 · Oil on canvas
More works from the collection will be added as the Foundation expands its public programme. Also noted: Ludwig Deutsch — A Gathering Around The Morning News, Cairo (1885)
Collector’s Note
“The Orientalist Traveller Painters were the first cultural diplomats — they crossed every frontier that divided East from West in pursuit of light, beauty, and truth. Their work is the inspiration for everything we do.”
— M. Shafik Gabr
The Orientalist movement emerged in the 19th century as European painters — inspired by Napoleon’s Egyptian campaigns and the opening of the Middle East to Western travellers — journeyed East in search of subjects that defied the academic conventions of their day.
They found in the Arab world a richness of light, colour, and human experience that transformed Western art. Their canvases brought the East to Western audiences for the first time — and in doing so, began a conversation that the Shafik Gabr Foundation continues today.
Key Artists & Books
Masters of the 18th & 19th Century Orientalist tradition
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky
1817 – 1900 · Russian
Russian Romantic painter renowned for his seascapes and depictions of the Levant and Egypt. Aivazovsky’s luminous canvases of the Pyramids and the Nile are among the most celebrated of the Orientalist Traveller tradition. His “Great Pyramid at Giza” is a centrepiece of the Gabr Collection.
Ludwig Deutsch
1855 – 1935 · Austrian-French
One of the foremost Orientalist Traveller Painters of the Belle Époque. Known for meticulous, almost photographic detail, Deutsch spent extended periods in Egypt. “The Offering” (1895) and “A Gathering Around The Morning News, Cairo” (1885) are among his finest works in the Gabr Collection.
Frederick Arthur Bridgeman
1847 – 1928 · American
American Orientalist Traveller Painter who studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme and made multiple journeys to North Africa and Egypt. His “The Favorite” (1882) is one of the signature works of the Shafik Gabr Collection, capturing the richness of 18th and 19th century Orientalist portraiture.