Salah Taher (1911–2007) graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-arts in 1934, became director of the Museum of Egyptian Modern Art in 1961 and director of the Opera House in 1966. He was also an artistic advisor for al-Ahram</<a>i>, Egypt’s oldest newspaper publisher still in operation today. This painting is part of a series made in the style of “horoufeyya”, a school of modern art that explores abstract uses of Arabic calligraphy.