Red Cubist Abstract Composition, 1961

Mustafa El-Arnaouty (1920–1976) was an Egyptian artist renowned for his unique approach to abstraction, which he believed encapsulated emotion. He found beauty in the simplest and most ordinary objects, transforming them into captivating images infused with his feelings, thoughts, and memories. His paintings often featured colors, lines, and rhythms that evolved into symbolic and emotional signals, possessing spiritual and emotional energies that leaned towards lyricism, brought to life by his imagination. This artistic experience manifested as a unique form of expression, where the essence of art centered on emotion, and artistic expression revived the experience of sensation through imagination and expression. His art, liberated from rational oversight, emerged pure as he immersed himself in a mystical union with his subject matter. This approach allowed artistic beauty to attain independence from natural beauty.

El-Arnaouty's artistic journey was significantly influenced by Youssef El-Afifi, who guided him into the realm of modern art and reinforced the concept of art as a contemplative practice. This perspective led El-Arnaouty to explore and experiment freely, moving beyond the confines of restrictive academic teachings. While many artists of his generation focused on perfecting academic drawing skills, El-Arnaouty, upon encountering modern abstract trends, developed a vision that combined utmost rationality with profound poetry, balancing precise clarity with intriguing ambiguity.