The ART of YUSEF SZAFKI

Born in Glasgow in 1950, the only child of a Russian émigré, Yusef Szafki produced his vibrant, colourful and enigmatic works over several decades. Yusef died in 2021 leaving behind an astonishing portfolio of work illustrating his ever-developing ideas of form, colour and texture.

Yusef Szafki touched the lives of many. Art, literature and music filled his own life of almost seventy-two years. He created art, he wrote books and he composed music. Every brushstroke, every sentence, every musical note was approached with a perfectionist ardour and intellectual rigour that inspired many of his own generation and beyond. He was warm, funny, always engaged, always encouraging us to do better. To those who knew and loved him, we were all his apprentices.

IN 2022 a retrospective of Yusef’s paintings was held at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh. This represented only one part of Yusef Szafki artistic oeuvre. In time other parts including music, graphics, photography and sculpture will be revealed to new audiences.

Sheila Szatkowski September 2025