The auction will take place at Christie's headquarters in London on November 9th and represents an immersive journey through the history of modern and contemporary Arab art from the 30s through to the 2010s. Formed by the late visionary art collector Dr. Ramzi Dalloul and his wife, Saeda El Husseini, and carried on by their son, Dr. Basel Dalloul, the Dalloul Art Collection, located in Beirut, Lebanon, is unparalleled in its breadth and depth and reflects an extraordinary level of connoisseurship. Their decades of travel across the Arab region, combined with their deep relationships with artists, have shaped a collection that boldly celebrates artistic diversity and Arab culture.
MAHMOUD SAÏD (1897, Alexandria – 1964, Alexandria) Fille à l'imprimé (Girl in a Printed Dress) Estimate £350.000-550.000
The sale is led by Fille à l'imprimé (Girl in a Printed Dress) by Mahmoud Saïd
This is an iconic masterpiece previously held in the collection of Hussein Pasha Sirry and exhibited four times during Saïd's lifetime, most notably at the 1939 Salon in Cairo. Painted at the height of the artist's career, this work explores one of Saïd's favorite subjects, an Egyptian peasant girl or Fellaha. With his ingenious play of light and his unrivaled mastery of color, Saïd depicts young women with a contemplative and at the same time seductive gaze, resplendent in her floral dress against the dark background. Other significant works include a amazing abstract by Kadhim Haydar, Dia Al Azzawi's Summeria Face, one of the highlights of the recent traveling exhibition Beirut and the Golden Sixties, a distinctive wave painting by Mohamed Melehi from the 80s, and a mysterious Marwan marionette painted in 2014.
The collection has a strong Lebanese contingent including exceptional works by Etel Adnan, Helen Khal, Paul Guiragossian, Shafic Abboud and Chaouki Choukini
The contemporary section highlights prominent figures from the region such as Ibrahim El Salahi, Ahmed Mater, Ayman Baalbaki and Samia Halaby, with a monumental composition painted in 2014 and a captivating geometric abstract from 1978.
A large group of works by Moroccan artists includes Untitled, 1982, by Mohamed Melehi (1936, Asilah, Morocco – 2020, Boulogne-Billancourt, France), (estimate £70.000-100.000). Melehi was a key figure in the Casablanca School of Art in Morocco in the 60s and 70s. Combining Moroccan arts, crafts and architecture with the avant-garde artistic movements of the 60s, including abstract expressionism and pop art, this work is a unique fusion of Melehi's signature wave pattern, of the radiant color palette and Arabic calligraphy. Ibrahim El-Salahi (b. 1930, Omdurman, Sudan) has been recognized as a key figure in the development of today's African Modernism, pioneering the integration of African, Islamic, Arab and Western artistic traditions into his practice. Palm Tree, 2001 (estimate £30.000-50.000), is an exceptional work from The Tree series, a set of geometrically complex and spiritually captivating works inspired by the artist's fascination with the Haraz tree native to Sudan. Lebanese-American painter, art critic, and educator Helen Khal (1923, Allentown, USA – 2009, Ajaltoun, Lebanon) was born in Pennsylvania, but undertook her formal art education in Beirut in 1946 and went on to give a Significant contribution to the Lebanese art scene. Untitled, 1970, (estimate £25.000-35.000) is an evocative color field abstract work in which the artist has breathed life into the surface through the careful construction of forms from numerous layers of diluted oil paint and broad modulations of color .
Kopf links gedreht 1972, (estimate £18.000-25.000), is an early example of Marwan's iconic Head series (1934, Damascus – 2016, Berlin). In the present work Marwan uses expressive watercolor brushstrokes to explore the psychological depth of the human face. The auction also includes a monumental puppet canvas by the artist from 2014. The auction also features two works by Saudi artist Ahmed Mater (Tabuk, born 1979), one of the most esteemed cultural voices documenting and analyzing the realities of 'Contemporary Saudi Arabia. Today. In Human Highway (Mina) (estimate £20.000-30.000), the artist captures an aerial perspective of the revered ritual of the “Stoning of Jamarat” during the Hajj and reflects on the spiritual forces that sustain human faith.
