HUSSEIN MOHAMED YOUSSEF (EGYPTIAN 1910-1975)
Portrait of a Man
1931
signed in Arabic and initialed H.M.Y / inscribed and dated Rome 1931 (lower right)
oil on canvas, framed
42 x 61 cm (16 1/2 x 24 in)

PROVENANCE
Dr. Mohamed Said Farsi

Dr. Mohamed Said Farsi (1934-2019) was one of the world’s great patrons of Egyptian art. In 1956 he was one of only 35 students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent abroad for further education. Having obtained a BA in Architecture and Town Planning from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, he returned to Saudi Arabia and in 1972 became the Mayor of Jeddah. During his lifetime, he assembled the most important private collection of Modern Egyptian art.

His collection became the first of its type to be fully documented with the publication of ‘A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection – the “Egyptian Works” owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi’ by the critic and scholar Dr. Sobhy Sharouny (published 1998).

Born in Cairo, Egyptian artist Hussein Mohammed Youssef was raised within a religious context given that his home was a place where clerics and scholars would regularly congregate to discuss and debate Islamic issues. At the young age of 18, he was sent to Rome on a scholarship to complete his studies in Fine Arts and then moved to London to pursue his education in the art of decoration, which added a unique diversity and mixture of cultures to his works.

Youssef’s oeuvre varies in use of media, from oil and watercolour paintings to plaster and decorative works, most of which were executed during his stay in Europe. As a result many of his earlier works show a deep-rooted affinity for a Western and mainly Italian visual style.