Salah Taher

(Egypt, 1911-2007)

Pilgrimage

Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from the collection of the late George Touma Yacoub (1935-2025)


Lots 20-32
Across Borders: Modern Arab Art from the Collection of the Late George Yacoub

The following works come from the collection of George Touma Yacoub (1935–2025), a Lebanese born bibliophile, map collector, businessman and patron of the arts whose lifelong passion for the cultural and intellectual history of the Middle East informed every aspect of his collecting. Born in Beirut and educated at the American University of Beirut and later Oxford and Leeds, Yacoub combined rigorous scholarship with a deep personal attachment to the region. His collection reflects that duality: a love of books, maps and manuscripts alongside enduring friendships and personal connections with many of the artists whose work he championed.

After beginning his career in the economic planning departments of Middle East Airlines and Kuwait Airways, Yacoub went on to hold senior posts in aviation and corporate strategy, notably as Senior Vice-President of Trans Mediterranean Airways and later Executive Director of Sogex International. His expertise in economic development and strategic planning brought him to the attention of major companies and institutions across the Middle East, where he acted as a consultant and adviser on projects from Beirut to the Gulf.

In the later decades of his career he led international ventures in construction and infrastructure, including executive roles at Amtel Contracting Company, while maintaining close ties to academic and policy circles through affiliations with the Royal Geographical Society, Chatham House, and the British Institute of Management.

Throughout his life Yacoub remained intellectually restless and culturally engaged. His bibliophilia, deep historical knowledge and cosmopolitan outlook were matched by a profound affection for the broader Middle East, a region whose art, literature and political history he studied and collected with passion. The works he assembled are more than acquisitions: they form a record of a lifetime devoted to ideas, dialogue and cultural exchange, and stand as a testament to a collector whose intellectual curiosity and personal relationships shaped one of the most distinctive private collections of its kind.