Saliba Douaihy, Composition Abstraite (Abstract Composition), oil on canvas, circa 1975 (est. £50,000-70,000) With an exceptional mastery over the minimalist aesthetic, Saliba Douaihy uses colour and shape to reveal a fascination with Lebanon’s landscapes. German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s writings stimulated the artist to reach a formalist aesthetic, driving Douaihy to emphasise compositional elements in his paintings to aspire to the ‘sublime’. Douaihy was able to move away from strictly academic style into a radical modernist approach, making him one of the true pioneers of Arab Modernism. This painting was originally in the collection of Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber), a close friend of the artist and important Arab poet, translator, theorist and political activist and two-time Nobel Prize nominee. Louai Kayali, Untitled (Portrait of the Artist’s Niece), oil on canvas, 1964 (est. £20,000-30,000) Born in Aleppo, Syria and educated at the Academia di Belle Arti in 1960s in Florence, Kayali is considered to be one of the most important Syrian artists of the twentieth century. This previously unseen work from the 1960s, depicting his ten-year-old niece with great tenderness and compassion, comes from the estate of Mrs. Pearl A. Baker. A diplomat and worldly traveller, Mrs. Baker took a trip to visit her friends in the Foreign Service in Damascus in 1964 where she was introduced to Kayali, who at the time was there painting portraits for the U.N. personnel. In her personal memoirs she recalls having bought this painting, which she proudly hung in her living room in Minneapolis.

Shakir Hassan Al-Said, Bustan Al-Ma’refa (The Orchard of Knowledge), oil on canvas, 1952 (est. £60,000-80,000) One of the most vibrant and iconic works by the pioneer of Iraqi Modernism ever to have appeared at auction, The Orchard of Knowledge symbolises a stepping stone into a new artistic era. Painted with an idealistic and ‘naïve’ style inspired by religious mythology and ancient folklore – and a  palette drawing from the tribal colours of Iraqi ancient carpets – the work merges past and present in perfect harmony. Manoucher Yektai, Untitled (Still Life with Pineapple), oil on canvas, 1969 (est. £55,000- 70,000) Manoucher Yektai established himself among the leading artistic lights of New York in the 1950s, mingling with renowned Abstract Expressionists such as Rothko, De Kooning and Pollock. The movement of Action Painting left a strong impression on the artist, reinforcing his Sufi-like appreciation of colour. A gifted poet with little concern for convention, he had a pioneering spirit and was determined to forge his own path. Yektai’s paintings are testament to this power of colour, visual brilliance and use of paint –in fact, he was the first Iranian to use layered paint and impasto in this way. This painting is a captivating example of Yektai’s energetic expressionistic style – his careful handling of colour and attention to the essential figurative details of the pineapple make this a truly outstanding piece which brings a new dimension to oft- favoured subject of still life. Antoine Malliarakis Mayo, La Clairière (The Meadow), oil on canvas, 1970 (est. £15,000-20,000) Born in Egypt, Mayo spent his youth in Alexandria before moving to Paris to study art —straddling a trans-regional identity. The artist spent much of his time in the artistic hotbed of Montparnasse and befriending artists including Man Ray, Picabia and Foujita along with the infamous muse Kiki de Montparnasse. The paintings of Mayo revolved around the common themes of sensuality and eroticism which took different forms within his oeuvre. The cerebral and provocative nature of the Surrealist genre is a consistent theme in Mayo’s work and heavily impacted the burgeoning Surrealist movement in Cairo. The Egyptian surrealists founded the revolutionary ‘Art and Liberty Group’, incorporating notions of political libertarianism and Freudian concepts of the unconscious mind. Their legacy was most notably celebrated in the 2017 exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. 

Sohrab Sepehri, Untitled (Tree Trunks and Village Scene), oil on canvas, circa 1972 (est. £200,000- 300,000) A child of Kashan, Sepehri grew up among the town’s ‘gardens of paradise’ and the shady trees that offered cool respite remained central to the artist’s output throughout his life. At a time when many were seeking a Western education, Sepehri chose to travel to the East. Following a printmaking apprenticeship in Tokyo, Sepehri assimilated the Zen culture and minimalist aesthetic into his own universe of poetry, calligraphy and dusty deserts.