Valérie Didier-Hess

Before joining the Impressionist & Modern Art Department at Chrisitie's King Street in 2006, Valerie was involved in several projects with major institutions, including the Louvre in Paris, the Centre of Restoration of the Paintings in Museums of France (C2RMF), and the Princely Collections of the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna, Austria.

Since 2008, Valérie has been working as Client Liaison & Sale Manager of the Christie's Middle-East office in Dubai, in charge of the bi-annual sales of Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian & Turkish Art. She is presently Director, Business Development in the Middle East.

Through her invaluable experiences in both museums and auction houses, Valerie has trained her eyes through countless encounters with priceless masterpieces, amongst which paintings by Mahmoud Saïd which she first discovered while preparing the sale of Dr. Mohammed Saïd Farsi's unique collection in April 2010.

With Dr. Rashwan's help, Valérie initiated the compiling of the catalogue raisonné of Mahmoud Saïd's oeuvre as an independent academic project. She met collectors and several members from the artist's family in Egypt, and traveled across Europe and the US in search of new pieces of Mahmoud Saïd's work. In 2013, she published a comprehensive article on Mahmoud Saïd published in CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE, the UAE-based arts magazine.

Valérie graduated from Cambridge University with a BA in Art History (2004), and from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, with a MA in Art History (2005).

Dr. Hussam Rashwan

Dr. Rashwan owns an outstanding collection of Modern Egyptian Art. He is also a scholar who sees his role in preserving the History of Modern Egyptian Art by undertaking and supporting research projects, helping many scholars around the world. He has an impressive collection of priceless literary references related to Modern Egyptian Art.

Being part of Egypt's academic elite art circle, Dr. Rashwan is in contact with art collectors, leading academics, major institutions and curators. His personal library and his unparalleled knowledge have gained him a reputation in the expertise of Modern Egyptian Art. A. Seggerman wrote an article about him and his collection in the Nov.-Dec.2012 issue of CANVAS magazine.

Dr. Rashwan contributed to the Mahmoud Saïd monograph compiled by E. Dawestashy in 1997. Along with Dr. M. Mitwally and Dr. M. Shaker, he masterminded the Golden Jubilee Book of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria. He was also a major contributor to "One Hundred Years of Creativity, 1908-2008", a commemorative book by the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria.

Dr. Rashwan holds an MS of Science, as well as a Ph.D. in Information Systems.