Sotheby’s is honoured to offer two works by Parviz Tanavoli sold to benefit the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, the fundraising body of LGH, North Vancouver, and the publicly funded healthcare facilities across the North Shore. These exemplary Lots, generously donated by the Artist, present an extraordinary opportunity to acquire coveted works and to support the vital work of the North Vancouver community hospital.

Works Donated by Parviz Tanavoli Sold to Benefit the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, Vancouver 

To retrace the artistic journey of Paul Guiragossian is to follow a life marked by exile, resilience, and an unshakable faith in humanity. His paintings were never detached from his lived experience; they were his way of dealing with loss, displacement, and the fragile yet enduring bonds of family and community. Each canvas became a witness to his struggles and triumphs, but also a testimony to his belief that beauty and dignity can emerge even from the harshest of circumstances. The three works presented here span distinct chapters of his life: the hardship of his early years, the bold experimentation of the 1960s, and the resilience of the 1970s, together forming a portrait of an artist who never ceased to transform suffering into hope. Taken together, these three paintings chart Guiragossian’s lifelong quest to articulate the dignity of the human condition. From exile and loss, to political solidarity, to survival amid war, each work is a chapter in a life that never ceased to affirm hope through art. Sotheby’s is grateful to Manuella Guiragossian for the writing of these essays and for her generous assistance with the research and cataloguing of the present lots.

Three Decades of Painting by Paul Guiragossian

Fahrelnissa Zeid is remembered not only as a pioneer of Turkish modernism, but also for her unique and extraordinary character and style. Born in Istanbul into a prominent Ottoman family of intellectuals and artists, Zeid began to paint at a young age and was one of the first women to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul in 1919. In 1928, Fahrelnissa enrolled at the Académie Ranson in Paris, where she trained under Roger Bissière who encouraged her to explore abstract forms of painting, leading to the development of her eclectic style of European Fauvism and Expressionism that she assimilated with her rich cultural heritage. Discover four distinguished works by Fahrelnissa Zeid from the 1940s and 1950s, two of which hail from the extended family of the artist. Sotheby’s is grateful to Adila Laïdi-Hanieh for the writing of these essays and for her generous assistance with the research and cataloguing of the present lots.

Four Works by Fahrelnissa Zeid

An Exploration of Portraiture

Voyage Into Abstraction

London

Head of Sale, Modern and Contemporary Middle East

Alexandra Yasmina Roy

Head of Contemporary Art Day Sale

Ashkan Baghestani

SVP, Chairman, Middle East & India

Edward Gibbs

Deputy Chairman, Middle East

Katia Nounou Boueiz

Deputy Director | Middle East Representative and Specialist | MENA

Yasmeen Gailani

Cataloguer | Modern & Contemporary Middle East

Elika Blake

Meet our Specialists

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Sotheby's London is thrilled to present an exceptional selection of prominent works by coveted artists from the Arab world, North Africa, Iran, and Türkiye. This tightly curated sale celebrates the breadth and depth of art from the region with a wide representation of countries, mediums, and subjects from the modern to contemporary period. Highlights of the sale include three decades of paintings by Paul Guiragossian, important works by Egyptian masters Inji Efflatoun, Omar El-Nagdi, and Seif and Adham Wanly, as well as two early and formative paintings by Turkish master Fahrelnissa Zeid. Further features include pioneering Iranian artists Bahman Mohassess, Charles-Hossein Zenderoudi, Sohrab Sepehri, and Parviz Tanavoli, including two works by the latter donated by the artist to benefit the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, Vancouver. Representing the contemporary generation are artists Hassan Meer, Faisal Samra, Hassan Hajjaj, Mahi Binebine, and Najat Makki.