Isaac Fanous

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Doctor
Isaac Fanous
BornIsaac Fanous
(1919-12-19)19 December 1919
Cairo, Egypt
Died15 January 2007(2007-01-15) (aged 87)
Cairo, Egypt
EducationInstitute of Coptic Studies
Occupation(s)Iconographer, Theologian, Art Historian

Isaac Fanous (

Copt iconographer, scholar and theologian, who single-handedly founded the most popular style of contemporary Coptic art
today, commonly referred to as "Neo-Coptic".

Early life and studies

Fanous was born in Al-Minya and moved to Cairo to gain his degree from The Faculty of Applied arts now part of Helwan University in Egypt in 1941 and got a diploma in teaching in 1943. Fanous was one of the first students of the

Léonid Ouspensky, under whose patronage he developed a passion both as artist and theologian. This would lead, eventually, to him developing a style that was to become the new face of Coptic iconography in the mid-20th century.[1][2]

Fanous chaired the Coptic Art department at the

Coptic
artists from outside Egypt.

Political influences

As wealthy patrons of the arts disappeared from Egypt's cosmopolitan art world following the

Akhnaten, who founded his city.[3]

Modern Coptic iconography

For centuries before painters like Isaac Fanous the

Coptic Orthodox church had its own style which is recognised as the traditional Coptic style.[4] Under the influence of the European art, which spread to Egypt in the nineteenth Century, a lot of the Churches in Egypt appeared, with Icons that were stylistically similar and often identical to a lot of Western Christian art, especially that of Protestants
.

Fanous's contemporary school of iconography came about as part of a general renaissance of Coptic culture, which began during the patriarchate of Pope Cyril VI (1959–1971).[3]

He drew on the already established old Coptic style, like that of Yuhanna al-Armani, as well having taken the influences from popular Western Protestant art, gradually developing in his own style, his style became widely recognized for its amplified symmetry, added minimalism and exaggerated Idiosyncrasy of previous Coptic art; his style is widely referred to as "Modern Coptic Style" or simply "Neo-Coptic".

He is not just considered a pioneer in this field, but Fanous is held to be the father of modern Coptic iconography and the initiator of the modern renaissance in Coptic art.[1]

Fanous painted all the illustrations and icons in St. Takla Haymanot's Church in Alexandria, which was consecrated in 1969.[5] Between 1977 and 1978, he spent six months in the UK to paint icons in St Mark's Coptic Orthodox church in Allen Street, Kensington, London.

  • Coptic icon of Saint Anthony the Great
    Coptic icon of
    Saint Anthony the Great
  • Coptic icon of Saint Maurice
    Coptic icon of Saint Maurice

Awards

See also

  • Coptic art
  • Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
  • Icon
  • List of prominent Copts

References

  1. ^ a b AlAhram weekly article on Isaac Fanous Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Elahram.com". elahram.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  3. ^ a b Copts United article in Arabic by Shafik Botrous
  4. ^ "Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and hundreds more". www.bartleby.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  5. ^ "History of Saint Takla Himanout's Church". Official website of St. Takla Haymanot's Church. Retrieved 2011-02-10.

External links

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