Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem - Minister of Culture inaugurated Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum after a 10-year closure, following its development and modernization. This was in the presence of Dr. Hala El Said - Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Amr Talaat - Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Pilot Mohamed Manar - Minister of Civil Aviation, Major General Mohamed Amin - Advisor of the President for Financial Affairs, Eng. Sayed Farouk – CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company which implemented the development project, and a number of ambassadors and representatives of Arab countries in Cairo, with Dr. Khaled Sorour - Head of Plastic Arts Sector, Dr. Safia Al Qabbani - Head of the Syndicate of Fine Arts, leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Eng. Emam Afifi – Vice Chairman and Eng. Tarek Khedr – Head of Construction Sector.
Abdel Dayem expressed her happiness that the reopening of Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum is one of the manifestations of Egypt's soft powers and is an added value to the country's cultural structure, as it includes rare collections of masterpieces from the most important creations of human civilization. She added that its reopening comes within the comprehensive plan aimed at developing artistic and national museums all over Egypt. Dr. Enas announced that Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum is open for free to the public for a whole month, and invited all to visit it to emphasize the idea of visual culture and view the holdings, which are the pride of every Egyptian.
According to Dr. Khaled Sorour - Head of the Fine Arts Sector, there are 304 paintings in the museum by 143 artists, and around 50 sculptures by 14 artists. The museum’s rare collection includes a number of works by world renowned artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Eug?ne Delacroix, Peter Paul Rubens, and Franz Xaver Winterhalter, among others.Holdings also include a number of porcelain vases and pots from France, Turkey, Iran and China in addition to delicate Chinese antiques made of precious stones.
It is noteworthy that Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum was built as a residence for the Egyptian politician in 1915 in the French style. It has an area of 1,400 m2, is surrounded by a garden with an area of about 2,400 m2 and consists of four floors. It follows the Egyptian government after his wife's departure. The palace was opened as a museum for the first time in 1962. Then, it was transferred to Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace in Zamalek in 1971. It was reopened in 1979. After converting the headquarters into a museum, it became one of the most important edifices of plastic art in the world due to its valuable holdings.
Then it was closed. The closure continued for more than 10 years. The development work began in 2014 to include several phases, including all construction works and treatments of air conditioning and ventilation networks, electricity and water system, firefighting and its development, development of the main power station, modernization of the museum’s equipment as a whole and updating the museum display scenario, in addition to add services for the public. The museum and all its holdings were secured with German technology, including the latest camera systems and international insurance methods approved in the largest museums in the world, using more than one insurance method.