Background
Mr. Hosny was born in Alexandria, at that time one of the most important and cosmopolitan cities in the world. The heterogeneous society that made its home there successfully combined the culture and values of Europe and the East, a rich convergence that had a lasting influence on Minister Hosny’s artistic and professional development.
Gravitating towards the arts at an early age, Mr. Hosny studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, and graduated in 1964. Here Hosny was exposed to the writings of Taha Hussein, the university’s first dean, who believed in the importance of cultural cross-pollination and considered Egypt part of the larger Mediterranean koine. As a young man, Hosny developed the philosophy that has guided him throughout his life, namely that art, and especially painting, can be used to rebuild and enrich the world. His artistic style during this early period of his life was expressionistic, perhaps best characterized as dreamy. Striving both to convey his feelings and provide the viewer with a subjective vision of his personal experiences, he took his palette from the harmonious colors and vivid contrasts of his home city.