Beirut is a city where art is ubiquitous to the landscape – each area has its own unique culture and past where you can trace the history of many of the leading artists of the Middle East. This Spring, Sotheby’s will celebrate Lebanon’s rich cultural terrain and artistic pioneers in a dedicated auction, taking place in London on April 23.

The sale will offer a look at just under 50 artists, anchored by some 30 Lebanese artists, alongside artists from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, whose practice has been shaped by their interaction with the country – be it through residency, friendship, teaching, travels or showcasing their works.

Highlights, according to a Sotheby’s press release, include paintings, watercolours, mixed-media and sculptures by the likes of Etel Adnan, Huguette Caland, Ayman Baalbaki, Mona Saudi, Aref El Rayess, and Saloua Raouda Choucair, to name a few. Together, the works trace the influence of Lebanon from the beginnings of mid-century modernism to the present day, in the art of the region and the wider world.

“Lebanon has long been home to an artistic community whose contributions to the cultural landscape cannot be overstated, whether these are artists who are native to the country, painted its beautiful landscapes and architecture, or who studied and worked there,” according to Alexandra Roy, Sotheby’s Head of Sale, Modern & Contemporary Middle East.

“We wanted to create a moment to savor the richness of this culture and history, casting a lens on Lebanon as a place of magic and inspiration, and in doing so, sparking new cross-cultural dialogues amidst the growing global appetite for these artists.”

Prior to the auction in London, a selection of the works will first travel to Dubai, to be exhibited in Sotheby’s gallery in the DIFC. The public exhibition, coinciding with Art Dubai, will be on view from February 26 – March 1 , and will also unveil spectacular pieces from Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World & India auction as well as further Modern and Contemporary artworks, including two paintings by Iranian pioneer Bahman Mohasses.

Katia Nounou-Boueiz, Head of Sotheby’s UAE, said: “One of Dubai’s greatest attributes is that it is melting pot, where art lovers from across the world convene, discuss, and forge fresh paths. It is only fitting, given these close cultural ties, that we will celebrate another of the region’s artistic spheres, which is itself a magnet for creativity.”

The full selection will then be exhibited in New Bond Street from April 19 – 22.

The auction starts with works in the mid-twentieth century, following the rise of post-war modernism in the city that had coincided with the shift towards Lebanon as an independent state. The democratic constitution in the years following 1943 elevated the status of the artist from craftsman to intellectual, instigated by institutional developments and cultural activities that supported the artistic ecosystem. It was not long before the art scene was awash with diverse schools of thought and modes of expression reflected in the offering of the sale.

Etel Adnan

Born in Beirut in 1925, Etel Adnan is today considered one of the most internationally celebrated artists from the region, and this year she is set to be represented in the Venice Biennale and honored with a major retrospective at Ithra in Saudi Arabia.

This early work ‘Untitled,’ circa 1965, brings together her love of pure colours, affinity for geometric abstraction, and fascination with the sun and the sea of the Beirut of her youth.

Mahmoud Saïd

Considered to be the founder of modern Egyptian art, Mahmoud Saïd was at his core a master of landscape painting, bringing to life not only his beloved Egypt but also views of the places he visited on holiday.

In the 1950s, his favorite summer escape was Lebanon, and here we see him in ‘Maisons à Aïtanit,’ 1951 depicting the village of Aïtanit (just outside of Beirut on a lake). On the back of the painting is a dedication to Saïd’s friend and mentor Dr Joseph Elkayem, a member of the bohemian literati, and it is coming to auction for the first time from his family’s collection.

Aref el Rayess

Aref el Rayess was born in Beirut in 1928 and displayed talent from a young age, progressing as a self-taught artist to become a pioneer of the avant-garde in Lebanon.

His first exhibition in Lebanon was in 1948, following which time he travelled between Senegal and Paris – studying under Fernand Léger and André Lhote – and onto West Africa, where he was inspired by folklore and mystical motifs. This painting ‘Untitled, 1972’ dates to his return to Beirut.

Huguette Caland

Born in Beirut in 1932, Huguette Caland was the only daughter of Lebanon’s first president following the country’s independence from France. Caland embarked on her journey as a painter late in life, enrolling at the American University of Beirut in 1965, when she was already married and a mother. There she studied art formally alongside her friend and contemporary Helen Khal. In 1970, Caland left her family behind and moved to Paris – in a move that indicated art was to become her whole life. Caland’s work at the Sotheby’s auction is from 2004.

The auction also offers a painting by Helen Khal from 1982, who together with her husband Yusuf Khal opened Beirut’s first commercial art gallery (‘Gallery One’) in 1963.

Saliba Douaihy

One of the leading 20th century painters in Lebanon, Saliba Douaihy was fascinated with the landscapes of his homeland, expressing these through distinct planes of deep colour. Douaihy studied in the US and in Europe, moving to New York in 1950 – just months before he painted this transitory work ‘Seascpae’ in 1951 – moving from realism to abstraction, inspired by the artists he met along the way (including Mark Rothko).

Mona Saudi

Born in Amman in Jordan, as a child, Mona Saudi would explore the ancient ruins surrounding her home, playing among the stone statues and Roman columns that dated back millennia. At the age of 17, she moved to a bustling Beirut to become an artist. The cosmopolitan Lebanese capital of the 1960s was the centre of the Arab intelligentsia and home to a thriving artistic and literary community.

Saudi’s first solo exhibition was held at Beirut’s Café de la Press in the winter of 1963, and was a ground-breaking moment in the artist’s life – enabling her to fund a trip to Paris, where she would go on to attend École des Beaux-Arts.

Saloua Raouda Choucair

Born in Beirut in 1916, Saloua Raouda Choucair is regarded as Lebanon’s first true modern abstract artist, and a leading sculptor of the Arab world. From the outset, Choucair was preoccupied by art and architecture from the Islamic world, a preoccupation that was compounded by a trip to Egypt in 1943. Following two of the essential elements of Islamic design – line and curve – Choucair’s elegant works are characterized by experimentation drawn from tradition.

The work work at the Sotheby’s auction is ‘Untitled’ from from the Repetitive Dual Series, circa 1988-1990.

Mohammed Ghani Hikmat

This sculpture called ‘Mother & Child,’ 1994, by renowned Iraqi artist Mohammed Ghani Hikmat was formerly in the collection of Lebanese artist Alfred Basbous – a giant in the field of Arab sculpture – who displayed it as part of his International Sculpture Symposium (founded in his native town of Rachana). The journey of the piece demonstrates the influence of these artists from different countries on each other.

Here, in the work Hikmat explores the traditional theme of motherhood, through the lens of the people of Baghdad and Iraqi daily life, executed in a pared down, abstract, and so timeless manner.

The auction also presents a painting of a Marionette by Marwan (a professor of art under whose tutelage were many of the leading Lebanese contemporary artists, including Ayman Baalbaki studied), a portrait by Cici Sursock (a member of the aristocratic family behind the city’s Sursock museum) and a multifaceted work by Nabil Nahas (inspired by the geometric patterns found in the decorative Islamic art of his birth city, Beirut).