Omar El Nagdi's Sarajevo beat its estimate of $600,000 by 90.8% to take $1.1m in a Dubai sale.
The painting headlined Christie's Modern and Contemporary Art: Now and Ten auction on March 16.
 El-Nagdi's Sarajevo invites comparison with Picasso's Guernica |
El-Nagdi is one of Egypt's most celebrated contemporary artists.
He works across various styles in a range of media, but is most commonly associated with the symbolist movement.
The present lot references the extended siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996) during the Bosnian war. Thousands of people were killed by sniper fire and shelling, while the world watched on - powerless to act.
The auction house comments: "El-Nagdi's Sarajevo is without doubt one of the most poignant depiction of the horrors of war ever painted since 1937, when Pablo Picasso realized his iconic piece Guernica…
"Sarajevo joins the series of iconic worldwide-known museum masterpieces that depict the horrors of war and that visually scream out the great artists' reactions to historical events contemporary to their time."
Mahmoud Said's The Nile in El Derr, Nubia realised $701,000 against a valuation of $350,000 - an increase of 100.2%.
The painting shows a tranquil stretch of the Nile and is the earliest work on this theme Said completed.
The strong results achieved indicate a rising interest in Middle Eastern art.
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