Bonhams is to hold the first-ever sale of Lebanese modern art by an international auction house as part of a sale of Middle East contemporary art. 

The Art of Lebanon and Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale will take on April 27 in London, UK.

It is supported by the British Lebanese Association (BLA), the foremost charity promoting Lebanese culture abroad. 

Chairman of the BLA, former diplomat Sir David Richmond, said: “This event, which would not have been possible without our partner Bonhams, marks a quantum leap in the recognition of the importance of Lebanese artists on the international contemporary art scene.”

The sale comprises works that give a comprehensive account of Lebanon’s artistic heritage, from turn-of-the-century works by pioneers such as Daoud Corm, Khalil Saleeby and Kahlil Gibran to groundbreaking art by modern masters such as Saloua Choucair and Etel Adnan.

Bonhams’ Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art specialist Nima Sagharchi said: “Lebanon is experiencing a period of significant cultural revival despite the difficult circumstances it has faced. Our auction brings together some of the most important works from Lebanon’s illustrious art movements and provides a new perspective on the contemporary cultural history of the country.”

One of the leading works in the sale is The Beirut City Centre Egg by Ayman Baalbaki (born 1975) estimated at £60,000-100,000 ($85,000-142,000). At 41, Baalbaki has achieved the highest price at auction for a contemporary Lebanese artist. The ‘Egg’ – as it is fondly referred to by the people of Beirut – is a partially destroyed cinema complex built in the Brutalist style. The shelled-out building has become a monument of the civil war and a historic landmark in its own right. Baalbaki’s subjects are often war-torn buildings, and his painting of the instantly recognisable Egg is one of his largest and most iconic pieces.

Opera Garnier by Farid Aouad (1924 -82) estimated at £40,000-60,000 ($57,000-85,000) is one of the largest and most prominent works by a Lebanese artist. Unappreciated in his lifetime, Aouad spent his later life in Paris, experimenting with the techniques of the various schools that emerged there during the sixties and seventies. Aouad’s work has been shown in museums across Lebanon and Europe and Opera Garnier was exhibited at the Art From Lebanon retrospective in Beirut in 2012.

Shafic Abboud (1926-2004) is considered to be the father of Lebanese modernism and Lebanon’s foremost abstract artist, in high demand within the art market. He too emigrated to Paris after the Second World War, and worked in the studios of artists such as Jean Metzinger and Fernand Léger, among others. He moved away from the traditions of Lebanese figurative and landscape painting early on in his career, and Cela fait quarante jours (Portrait of Christine Abboud), estimated at £35,000-50,000 ($50,000-71,000), is a rare semi-figurative work.

Portrait of Mrs Alexander Morten by Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) is a highly significant work by this towering figure in 20th century art and literature. Unseen for 100 years, it is the first Gibran painting ever to be offered at auction. After featuring in Gibran’s first exhibition in New York in 1914, the work disappeared from view for a century. Estimated at £20,000-30,000 ($28,000-43,000), it is considered one of the lost masterpieces that propelled the poet-artist to international fame. Gibran was well-known for his prolific output of portraiture, and his wider oeuvre includes portraits of his friends W B Yeats, Auguste Rodin and Carl Jung.

In addition to the main auction, a segment of the works in the sale will be auctioned with 50 per cent of the proceeds to benefit the British Lebanese Associations Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for graduates in Lebanon wishing to pursue a master’s degree in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale will feature some of Iran’s most prominent contemporary artists such as Farhad Moshiri and Charles Hossein Zenderoudi.

One of the highlights is We the Roses by Moshiri, Iran’s best-known contemporary artist, estimated at £100,000-150,000 ($142,000-213,000). This unique work features a combination of knives, sequins, embroidery and a self-portrait composition. Known for his ‘satirical kitsch’ style, Moshiri subverts mass culture using commercial imagery. One of Moshiri’s works sold for $1million at the Bonhams Dubai sale in 2008, making him the world’s highest-selling Iranian contemporary artist.

The large and exquisite Dje-Dja-Djou, a 1970s work painted by Zenderoudi, is estimated to sell for £100,000-150,000 ($142,000-213,000). Zenderoudi is described by Sagharchi, as ‘the father of the Iranian neo-traditionalist movement’.

Born in Tehran, Zenderoudi moved to Paris in 1961 where he met many of the artists working there at the time, including Alberto Giacometti and Lucio Fontana. 1963 marked the turning point in Hossein’s career, when the Museum of Modern Art in New York bought one of his drawings. Following MoMA’s acquisition, museums across the world followed suit. His work is now owned by the British Museum, the Center Pompidou and Copenhagen’s Staten museum, among many others.

Meanwhile Nubian House, the largest work ever to come to auction by Hussein Bicar, a pioneering Egyptian artist, illustrator, painter and poet, is estimated at £70,000- £100,000 ($100,000-142,000). He began his career as an illustrator for Akhbar El Yom, an Egyptian weekly newspaper. He soon became known for blurring the line between journalistic illustration and fine art. He is well-known in Egypt not only as an artist, but as a critic, educator, and talented musician.

Bonhams will also offer Manoucher Yektai’s Reclining Figure for an estimated £60,000-100,000 ($85,000-142,000). This monumental reclining nude comes to auction after another piece by the same artist, Portrait of Iris Clert, broke a world record for an Iranian master at Bonhams in October 2015.

Tehran-born, Yektai was both a traditional Persian poet and a radical American modernist. He studied in Paris under Amédée Ozenfant, and arrived in New York in 1947. He soon became influenced by the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, and was exhibited alongside works by Rothko, De Kooning, Newman and Kline. In the 1970s, Yektai returned to figurative painting, and the spectacular Reclining Figure is an example of this later period of his work.

Founded in 1793, Bonhams is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques with main salerooms in London, New York and Hong Kong. Sales are also held in the UK in Knightsbridge and Edinburgh; in the US, in San Francisco and Los Angeles; in Europe, in Paris and Stuttgart and in Sydney, Australia. Bonhams also has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas.