Hussein Bicar, 89; Egyptian Portrait Artist, Illustrator

Hussein Bicar, 89, Egypt’s popular portrait artist and painter, died Saturday in Cairo of what his wife, Asema, described as old age.

Born in 1913 in Alexandria, Egypt, Bicar graduated from Cairo’s School of Fine Arts in 1933 and taught in Morocco. From there, he traveled extensively in Europe, gaining inspiration for his drawings.

Adept at drawing for children, Bicar also became a foreign correspondent who wrote and illustrated stories of his travels. He produced sketches of news and feature subjects when photography was not common in his homeland.

In his later years, Bicar was better known for painting portraits, particularly of women. He also wrote criticism and taught for many years at Cairo’s Fine Arts Academy, where he advised students that the eye alone cannot catch the complex feelings in a painting. “You must think to understand,” he said. “You must go beyond the surface.”