Cairo-born Abdalla is a self-taught artist who drew inspiration from Egyptian traditional art and his personal connection to his birthplace. He was able to create despite his lack of formal artistic instruction, and his work became an important part of modern Egyptian art. His picture exemplifies both his visual and thematic styles, depicting a traditional house and its kitchen, with a farmer standing at the open door, evoking Abdalla’s love of rustic simplicity and the importance of hospitality in Arab society. “A range of delicate blue and white tones dominate the composition, in accordance with Abdalla’s conviction that these are the most beautiful colors,” the gallery says.
Munira Al-Kazi
Al-Kazi, a Saudi-Kuwaiti artist born in India, is one of the GCC’s most important female painters. She has shown a willingness to experiment with form and materials throughout her career. Her work from the early 1960s recalls her studies at London’s Central School of Art and Design, where she concentrated in printmaking. The auction catalog describes the piece as “at once painted, sliced, crumpled, and etched” the artwork features her signature geometric motifs as well as a button placed in the center in a unique way that is characteristic of the artist’s work.
Salah Yousri
This evocative picture exemplifies why this Egyptian artist is so well-known. Yousri, like so many of his Arab compatriots, was inspired by his homeland’s customs and symbols and wished to honor his country’s working-class citizens. According to the auction catalog, “Yousri emphasizes his country’s ancestral creative legacy while gently demonstrating his political commitment, in what can be understood as a demand for social reform.”
Safwan Dahoul
“Known for his unique and inventive techniques of figuration, which over his three-decades-long career to express the oscillations in feelings and psychology inside the Arab culture,” Sotheby’s said of this Syrian artist. Dahoul developed an own style “distinguishable by a gloomy and monochromatic air,” influenced by the Cubist movement in the West as well as Assyrian and ancient Egyptian art. That approach was most achieved in his “Dream” series, which includes this piece. “Both protective and surrendered,” the description says, “the painting depicts a form of tiredness gradually giving way to serenity.”