Saleh Barakat Gallery

What Saleh Barakat Gallery does

Saleh Barakat Gallery is a private, founder/family-owned commercial art gallery headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon. It is the successor operation to Agial Art Gallery (founded 1990) and was established under its current name on May 25, 2016. The gallery operates two physical locations in Beirut and maintains a represented roster of more than 87 artists from Lebanon and the wider Arab world, with a curatorial focus on modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art. Its customer base consists of high-net-worth private collectors and institutional buyers (museums, foundations, and corporate collections).

The gallery's core product is the curation, exhibition, and sale of artworks. There is no proprietary technology platform underlying the business; value is delivered through curatorial expertise, physical exhibition space, catalogues, and international fair participation. The revenue model combines two streams: (i) primary-market sales of works consigned by represented artists, typically one-off transactions with the gallery retaining a standard commission, and (ii) secondary-market activity, where the gallery brokers resale of existing works and earns a transaction fee. Distribution is via the gallery's two Beirut locations, organized exhibitions, published catalogues, and participation in international art fairs.

The gallery has no disclosed AI/ML, software, or data-products, no external funding rounds, and no publicly identified institutional investors, consistent with a closely-held founder/family operating model. The most material recent strategic action is the gallery's inclusion in the inaugural Art Basel Qatar in February 2026, indicating an active push into the Gulf collector base. Evidence on revenue magnitude, headcount, and customer segmentation is thin, and any revenue or growth conclusions should be treated as directional rather than precise.

Name

Saleh Barakat Gallery

Legal name

Agial Art Gallery & Saleh Barakat Gallery

Website

https://salehbarakatgallery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Saleh Barakat Gallery is a Beirut-based private art gallery representing more than 87 artists from Lebanon and the Arab world, operating two physical locations and generating revenue from primary-market sales commissions and secondary-market transaction fees for private collectors and institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contemporary Art Gallery

NAICS

Art Dealers (459920), Art Dealers (45992)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

Keywords

• Contemporary art gallery
• Modern Arab art
• Artist representation
• Primary art market
• Art fair exhibitions

Headquarters

HQ city

Beirut

HQ country

Lebanon

HQ region

Middle East

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Primary Market Sales: Sale of artworks directly to collectors, featuring established and emerging artists from Lebanon and the Arab world.
2. Secondary Market: Activities in the secondary art market alongside primary market operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Saleh Barakat Gallery is a Beirut-based contemporary art gallery that represents over 87 modern and contemporary Arab artists through solo exhibitions, art fair participation, and direct sales of artworks to private collectors and institutions. Operating alongside its predecessor Agial Art Gallery (founded 1990) and the smaller-scale Upper Gallery, it sells primary-market works and engages in secondary-market transactions, positioning Arab art for global collectors via events such as Art Basel Qatar.

Product overview

Saleh Barakat Gallery operates as a unified gallery entity comprising three distinct exhibition spaces: Agial Art Gallery (established 1990), the main Saleh Barakat Gallery (opened 2016), and The Upper Gallery (a smaller-scale experimental space on the ground floor). Together, they form a comprehensive platform for modern and contemporary Arab art, representing artists across different generations and operating in both primary and secondary art markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Upper Gallery: Located on the ground floor of Saleh Barakat Gallery, The Upper Gallery hosts an ongoing series of rotating displays and small-scale exhibitions for experimental or smaller-scale projects.

Products and services

• Saleh Barakat Gallery (Main Gallery) A contemporary art gallery in the former Cinema Clemenceau building in Beirut (opened May 25, 2016), showcasing modern and contemporary Arab art through narrative-driven solo artist exhibitions and direct artwork sales to collectors and institutions.
• Agial Art Gallery Established in 1990 in the Hamra district of Beirut, Agial is a pioneering platform for modern and contemporary Arab art, presenting established and emerging artists alongside retrospective exhibitions.
• The Upper Gallery A smaller-scale experimental exhibition space on the ground floor of Saleh Barakat Gallery hosting rotating displays spotlighting experimental projects, overlooked practices, and small-scale works of modern and contemporary art.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Art Basel QatarflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 February 2026Saleh Barakat Gallery was selected to participate in the inaugural Art Basel Qatar fair in Doha (February 2026), representing Beirut's art scene alongside galleries from 31 countries. This participation positions the gallery on a global platform and validates its role in the MENASA art scene.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Third Line: Dubai gallery representing established and emerging Middle Eastern artists with a parallel focus on institutional placements, art fairs, and publishing — closely overlapping with Saleh Barakat's activities.
• Kalfayan Galleries: Athens-based gallery with a long-running focus on modern and contemporary Greek and Middle Eastern art, representing a comparable roster approach and secondary-market activity.
• Carbon 12: Dubai gallery representing contemporary artists from the Middle East and internationally, with comparable solo-exhibition programming and a similar collector/institutional dual customer base.
• Athr Gallery: Jeddah-based contemporary art gallery supporting Saudi and Arab artists, operating in the same MENASA art-fair ecosystem and serving overlapping institutional and private collector demand.
• Grey Noise: Dubai-based gallery dedicated to contemporary art from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, competing directly in the same art-fair circuit and primary-market sales to regional collectors.
• Lawrie Shabibi: Dubai-based gallery focused on contemporary art from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, competing for the same MENASA collector and museum buyer base as Saleh Barakat.
• Galerie Tanit: Beirut-based contemporary art gallery with a secondary space in Munich, representing Lebanese, Arab, and international artists on a similar primary/secondary market model.
• Sfeir-Semler Gallery: Beirut-born gallery (now also in Hamburg) specializing in modern and contemporary Arab and Iranian art with a comparable dual Beirut-international footprint and similar artist-representation model.

Broad incumbents

• Pace Gallery: Global mega-gallery that increasingly participates in the Middle Eastern art market through fairs and partnerships; competes for institutional clients and HNW collectors but operates at vastly greater scale across all categories.
• Christie's: Global auction house that competes with Saleh Barakat in the secondary Arab art market and attracts the same institutional and HNW buyer pool, though operating through auction rather than private sales.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/saleh-barakat-gallery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Saleh Barakat Gallery