19 works, MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ARAB, IRANIAN AND TURKISH ART

Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993) 
Famille autour de l'Enfant (Family around the Child) 
signed 'PAUL.G.' (lower right) 
watercolour on paper 
27 5/8 x 19¾in. (70 x 50cm.) 
Painted circa 1985 

Private collection

Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993) 
Personnages II 
signed 'PAUL. G.' (lower left) 
oil on canvas 
25 5/8 x 25 5/8in. (65 x 65cm.) 
Painted in 1990 

Private collection

Farid Aouad (Lebanese, 1924-1982) 
Homo Flux 
signed 'F. AOUAD' (on the reverse) 
oil on canvas 
16 3/8 x 51in. (194 x 129.5cm.) 
Painted circa early 1970s

Private collection

The painting depicts a group of an undefined number of men and women standing at a bar. Expressing an overriding sense of solitude, this scene of lonely strangers at the bar is the artist's way to convey his own feeling of loneliness. Tormented by his memories of Beirut, his inability to be integrated into Parisian society and his extreme poverty, Aouad was in some ways a hermit, having never married and spent time locked up in his studio far away from socialising. The painting of these crowds is two-fold; firstly to express his own solitude while attempting to be social and secondly to stay warm from the harsh French winters as these cafés and bars would offer him refuge from his own poverty. More on this painting

Born in South Lebanon in 1924, Farid Aouad lived in Paris most of his life. Aouad is best known for paintings that express solitude. He used scenes of lonely strangers in bars and cafés. Moreover, his attachment to the familiarity between the streets of old Beirut and Paris are a recurring emotional fixture in his work.

In all the scenes he painted, his acute observation and ability to capture the life of the moment, mixed with his free yet mature graphic style of painting, were the key elements of his success. Aouad became a rare witness of artistic boldness in his generation and showed his art at numerous exhibitions in Lebanon, France, Germany and Italy. Unfortunately, his work was never fully appreciated during his lifetime and he lived out his last years in ill health and poverty.

In a 1977 letter, Aouad wrote: “I produced very little this year: always the same challenge with painting, looking for something that is still missing.”

In 1979, he wrote: “It is cold, windy, and rainy. It is not easy to work. The tourists are hiding the fishermen and their cases, but I always try to find more evident perspectives.” More on Farid Aouad

Aref El-Rayess (Lebanese, 1928-2005) 
Jeddah (Al Shatek el Hadi) (The Calm Shore) 
signed in Arabic (lower left); signed, titled and dated in Arabic (on the reverse)
oil on canvas 
35 5/8 x 47¼in. (90.5 x 120cm.) 
Painted in 1982 

Private collection

Ayman Baalbaki (Lebanese, b. 1975) 
Babel 
signed in Arabic and dated '05' (lower right of lower panel) 
acrylic on canvas, in two parts 
each: 51 1/8 x 78¾in. (130 x 200cm.);
overall: 102 3/8 x 78¾in. (260 x 200cm.)
Painted in 2005 

Private collection

Tagreed Darghouth (Lebanese, b. 1979) 
Green Grass 
signed and dated 'Tagreed 10' (lower centre) 
acrylic on canvas 
78¾ x 58 5/8in. (200 x 149cm.) 
Painted in 2010 

Private collection

Hussein Madi (Lebanese, b. 1938) 
Untitled 
signed 'MADI' (lower right); signed 'MADI' (on the reverse), inscribed 'NO. 3 TEMPERA' (on the stretcher)
oil and tempera on canvas 
23½ x 31½in. (60 x 80cm.) 
Painted in 1969 

Private collection

Elie Kanaan (Lebanese, 1926-2009) 
Girl in a Field 
signed 'E.S. KANAAN' (lower left) 
oil on canvas 
38¾ x 38 3/8in. (98.5 x 97.5cm.) 
Painted circa 1980s 

Private collection

Elie Kanaan (Lebanese, 1926-2009) 
La Dentellière 
signed 'E.S.KANAAN' (lower left) 
oil on canvas 
39 3/8 x 31½in. (100 x 80cm.) 
Painted circa 1985 

Private collection

Bibi Zogbé (Lebanese, 1890-1973) 
Eucalyptus 
signed in Arabic (upper left); signed 'BIBI Zogbe' (lower right); signed, titled and inscribed '"Eucalyptus" par la peintre Arabe BIBI Zogbe' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas 
39 3/8 x 31 7/8in. (100 x 81cm.) 
Painted circa 1940 

Private collection

Shafic Abboud (Lebanese, 1926-2004) 
L'Arc de Triomphe 
signed 'Abboud' (lower right); signed, titled and dated 'ABBOUD 85 "L'Arc de Triomphe"' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas 
39 3/8 x 36¼in. (100 x 92cm.) 
Painted in 1985 

Private collection

Saliba Douaihy (Lebanese, 1912-1994) 
Untitled 
signed 'S.Douaihy' (lower right) 
oil on linen mounted on board 
21¾ x 29¾in. (55.2 x 75.6cm.) 
Painted circa late 1950s 

Private collection

Burhan Cahit Dogançay (Turkish, 1929-2013) 
Red & Black Composition 
signed, titled, inscribed and dated 'Red & Black Composition R Dogancay 1974 May NYC' (on the reverse)
acrylic on canvas 
59½ x 59½in. (151.1 x 151.1cm.) 
Painted in 1974

Private collection

Shaker Hassan Al Said (Iraqi, 1925-2004) 
Untitled 
signed and dated in Arabic, signed and dated 'AL-SAID 1987' (lower left)
watercolour on paper laid down on cardboard 
16½ x 23 7/8in. (42 x 60.5cm.) 
Executed in 1987 

Private collection

Dia Al-Azzawi (Iraqi, b. 1939) 
Untitled 
signed in Arabic, dated '1975' (lower left) 
oil on canvas 
33½ x 33½in. (85 x 85cm.) 
Painted in 1975

Private collection

Ardash Kafakian (Iraqi, 1941-1999) 

Untitled 
signed 'ARDASH' (lower right); signed in Arabic, signed and dated 'ARDASH 1970' (on the reverse)
oil and graphite on canvas 
39 3/8 x 32 7/8in. (100 x 83.5cm.) 
Painted in 1970

Private collection

Suad Al-Attar (Iraqi, b. 1942) 
Tree 
signed in Arabic, signed and dated 'SUAD ALATTAR 1979' (lower right); signed in Arabic, signed and dated 'SUAD AL-ATTAR 1979' (on the reverse); signed, titled and inscribed 'SUAD AL-ATTAR 10 THACKERAY CLOSE WIMBLEDON SW. 19 "TREE"' (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas 
29 7/8 x 24in. (76 x 61cm.) 
Painted in 1979 

Private collection

Dia Al-Azzawi (Iraqi, b. 1939) 
La Ayoun Taltakitahou (No Eyes Can to Catch Him) 
signed and dated in Arabic (centre left); signed, titled and dated in Arabic, signed, inscribed and dated 'Dhia Al-Azzawi 1972 IRAK' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas 
39 3/8 x 39 3/8in. (100 x 100cm.) 
Painted in 1972 

Private collection

Rafa Al Nasiri (Iraqi, 1940-2013) 
Adaa ela Baghdad (Prayers for Baghdad) 
signed and dated 'Nasiri 1984' (lower right) 
acrylic on canvas 
31 5/8 x 39 3/8in. (80.5 x 100cm.) 
Painted in 1984 

Private collection

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