A painting by longtime Highland Park resident, artist Kamal Youssef (1923-2019), is now offered at auction by Concept Art Gallery in Regent Square for their December 2nd event, now active online. The painting is signed and dated 1968 was done by Kamal while the family lived in Highalnd Park. For 55 years it has been the property of a Pittsburgh family, contemporaries of Kamal’s, and will now find a new home. Kamal’s work rarely comes to auction. Kamal and wife, Maria, raised their children in one of the rambling houses on Hampton Street. Their kids attended Fulton, Peabody, Central Catholic, CMU and Pitt. Once their kids went off to college, the couple downsized to a house on Winterton Street where members of their family still live. In addition to working as an artist for eighty years until his death at age 96, Kamal also worked professionally as an engineer for Pittsburgh based Swindell Dressler. Kamal’s childhood and young adulthood was spent in Cairo. He met his American wife, also an immigrant to the US, in 1950s Paris. The couple made their way to Pittsburgh in the late 50’s when Kamal was offered the position at Swindell. In his work at Swindell, Kamal was at the forefront of computer adoption in engineering use during the 50s-60s. In the mid 1970s, the firm sent Kamal to Paris to establish and run their international offices where he was based until he retired in the mid 1990s. Kamal spent the last 25 years of his life primarily at the family’s farm in rural Indiana County. During all this time, decades, Kamal painted. While his work is varied and ranges from figurative to abstract and more, in every period Kamal’s ‘people’ are in his artwork. A cast of characters inhabiting his imagination for which he created physical embodiments. The mid century work offered at auction by Concept is such an example. Three figures seated on a bench presenting with Kamal’s archetypal elements including prominent hands and feet pull the viewer into the wonders and worries of their world. The painting vibrates within a background of rust to orange spectrum and it is still in its original frame, handcrafted by Kamal. The work is titled, “The Survivors”, written in Kamal’s hand on the back of the work. This adds to the importance of the piece as typically Kamal did not name pieces. Only those pieces that went into exhibitions were named, or at times, names were given to pieces upon being sold. To learn more about Kamal visit the Instagram page we manage for his estate https://www.instagram.com/kamalyoussefestate/ @KamalYoussefEstate To learn more about the large painting offered by the respected, second-generation Pittsburgh family-owned Concept Art Gallery and to register for their auction which closes this Thursday, December 2nd, visit https://bid.conceptgallery.com/online-auctions/concept-gallery/kamal-youssef... https://www.conceptgallery.com/ Additional Invitation: A large body of Kamal’s work, over 2,000 pieces, is now cared for by a family trust. We’ve done extensive work with conservationists to properly care for this legacy. The sweeping collection is currently kept in museum quality storage facilities leased by the trust at the Conservation Center of the Heinz History Center. If any of you who have read this far in this long email are interested in visiting the collection, we are offering very small, informal group tours during the month December. No cost whatsoever. We would just like to share this treasure trove with those who might be curious. No dates or times are set but tours will need to take place M-F between 10am-5pm. We recommend ages 12 and up due to close quarters with the artwork. If you are interested or want any additional info on anything above, do not hesitate to get in touch me via email rebeccaslak1@gmail.com or text 724-422-4101. Sincerely, Rebecca Slak Kamal Youssef Collection