SALAH YOUSRI | Untitled (Reclining Nude)

Collection of the Family of the Artist, Paris
Private Collection, Paris (acquired directly from the above in 2017)
Private Collection, Paris

Condition: This work is in very good condition. The paint is slightly faded along the left and right edges, possibly due to previous framing. The canvas is slightly undulating. Some minor signs of retouching under the UV light. Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are accurate, with the overall tonalities and hues being slightly softer in the original painting.
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Salah Yousri, was born in Cairo in 1923 and graduated with a degree from the Fine Arts School of Cairo in 1947. Upon his graduation, Yousri had a solo exhibition at Galerie Goldemberg in Cairo, and later on left for Paris to study in the atelier of famed Parisian cubist artist Andre Lhote. It is through his exposure in Paris that Yousri really developed his oeuvre and style. Initially emulating Lhote’s cubist mannerism stylistically; Yousri’s true spirit slowly appeared, as his fascination with the “pure” ancient Egyptian folkloric aesthetic became his primary source of inspiration. Upon his return to Cairo after a year in Paris, Salah Yousri became a member of the Modern Art Group, alongside fellow artists: Ezzeldine Hammouda, Zeinab Abdel Hamid and sculptor Gamal El Sigini – each of them painting a modernist rendering of the Egyptian folklore.  

The present work Untitled (Reclining Nude) pays homage to Yousri’s mentor and teacher Andre Lhote’s cubist style whilst marrying elements of Egyptian orientalism. One of Egypt’s forgotten modernist artists, Salah Yousri advanced a new type of art: in 1948 he spent two years extensively studying hieroglyphics in Luxor, rendering a form of cubism imbued with Pharaonic art. His style and form gained international recognition and subsequently Yousri exhibited at the 1952 Venice Biennale as well as at international galleries across Europe including Andre Weil and Galerie Mariac in Paris. Salah Yousri resettled in Paris in 1956 where he stayed with his family until his death in 1984.



The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by Mrs. Lily Yousry-Jouve.