Sotheby’s Middle East Art Week in London
Date: 26 April 2017
Sotheby’s is hosting three separate auctions that will all showcase an entire range of Middle Eastern art in London. These auctions showcase art produced under the aegis of multiple Middle Eastern empires which flourished from the 9th to 19th century; as well as the influence the region had on the Europeans who pioneered the Orientalist genre in Western art. Collectors and connoisseurs will also be able to view the artistic output of the modern generation of artists, continuing this fascinating thread of historic visual ideas and cultures.
Available items include paintings, rare Ottoman textiles, an Imperial Mughal spinel, a stunning selection of jewelry, and the earliest dated astrolabe dating back to 1020 AD. Notable names of artists whose work will be featured range from prominent female artists such as Fahrelnissa Zeid and Monir Farmanfarmaian to world-renowned painters Georg Emmanuel Opiz and Bahman Mohasess.
The first two auctions took place on Tuesday 25th April. The “20th Century Art/Middle East” auction offers both modern and contemporary art from North Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, and Iran. It comprises seminal and rare works by modern masters from the region. The largest Fahrelnissa Zeid ever to appear at auction and on the market for the first time since 1957 is offered in this seminal auction alongside a large 1968 Bahman Mohassess’ “Requiem Omnibus, from a private American collection, a rare and never before seen Mahmoud Said portrait of a lady, an iconic Monir Farmanfarmaian “Triangle of hope.” Other Iranian artists whose works will be hammered today include: one of Sohrab Sepehri’s “Tree Trunks,” an “untitled work” by Manouchehr Yektaee and Jafar Rouhbakhsh, “Lalam + Lalam” by Hossein Zenderoudi, and“Play with Reality” by Behjat Sadr.
“The Orientale Sale” auction showcases sculptures and paintings that represent the people, landscapes, and customs of North Africa, Egypt, the Levant, Arabia, and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
“The Arts of the Islamic World” auction will take place on Wednesday 26th April, featuring works that cover multiple continents and are over one thousand years old. Prior to these dates, the exhibition opened to the public on Friday April 21st , 2017.
Source: Farairan
