Painted by the acclaimed Egyptian artist Adham Wanly, the present work is a beautifully poetic and theatrical depiction of a fellah and fellaha in an embrace against the backdrop of the Nile Valley. An appreciation for the stage is palpable in the elegance of this scene. Born in Alexandria, Wanly is known for his exquisite sensibility in capturing movement with dynamic allure, formed by his passion for the performing arts. Together with his artist brother, Seif Wanly, he travelled through Europe including France, Italy and Spain in the 1950s and would sketch during live performances at the ballet, opera and theatre.

Wanly grew up in an aristocratic, intellectual environment at his family palace of Urban Pacha and from a young age was exposed to fine art and culture. It is impossible to talk about the artist without mentioning his brother, Seif, with whom he shared a great bond. The two artists were students of the same teacher, Italian painter Arturo Zanieri (1870 - 1955) that had taught Mahmoud Saïd (1897 - 1964), who is rightly considered the founder of Modern Egyptian Painting. Another Italian painter, Ottorino Bicchi (1878 - 1949), opened a studio in Alexandria in 1929, introducing the brothers to the styles of the École de Barbizon and the Impressionist movement, encouraging them to paint outdoors to evoke the elements of nature in their work through the light, colours and shades of the natural Alexandrian landscape. Adham and Seif Wanly both visited Upper Egypt and produced a series of paintings of the ancient sites and traditional villages on the banks of the Nile. The results were impressive, executed with a refined, advanced aesthetic combined with traditionalist Egyptian themes.

Today, an entire floor of the Mahmoud Saïd Museum in Alexandria is dedicated to Adham and Seif Wanly, demonstrating the pivotal role of the artists in the history of modern Middle Eastern art. The brothers participated in more than seventeen exhibitions together, notably at the Venice Biennale in 1956 and the Alexandria Biennial in 1958. After the death of Adham Wanly in 1959, the street next to his studio was named after him, and a retrospective held at the Museums of Fine Arts, Alexandria, Egypt in 1961.