Middle Eastern Artists Set to Shine at Art Auction

Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, Seconds-Behtarin-Seconds, one of the works by the Middle Eastern artists to be offered at the auction. Image courtesy of Bonhams Auctions

BY KAZAD

LONDON— In the last five years, the Middle East has been top news around the globe. From the Arab spring to war in Syria and ISIS in Iraqi, it has been one crisis after another. The constant news of the Middle East crisis is one reason people often overlook the fact that the Middle East countries have great history and culture. The Middle East also has a lot of great artists whose works are in museums across the globe. Works by some of these artists will be the center of attention at the Bonhams art auction in London.

Middle Eastern Artists Take Center Stage at Auction

On October 7, Bonhams will shift the focus from the crisis in the Middle East to art when it presents works of famous Middle Eastern artists in an art auction. The news of the auction is already generating excitement among art collectors. Bonhams Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale features a variety of masterpieces from across the Middle Eastern region.

This is the second sale of masterpieces by Middle Eastern artists this year at Bonhams. The first was in April. The successful art sale saw 86% of lots sold by value and featured buyers from over 12 different countries. The new art sale helps the auction house build on the April success as well as continue its strategy of broadening the market by presenting a carefully curated selection of works from the region’s standout artists to a growing international audience.

Highlighting the October sale are two extraordinary works from Iran’s most celebrated modern artists, Sohrab Sepehri and Bahman Mohasses. The works are from the collection of Dr. Ehsan Yarshater (Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University). Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will benefit one of the most ambitious academic projects undertaken in the field of Middle Eastern studies this century, Encyclopaedia Iranica. Dr. Yarshater, one of the most lauded scholars of Iranian studies, hopes the sale of the works will help with the preservation of Iranian cultural history.

Sohrab Sepehri’s Hanging Clothes

Hanging Clothes by Sepehris allows an insight into life in his native Kashan. The painting has an estimate of 55,000-100,000 GBP. Hanging Clothes is a quintessential statement of the artist’s two great impulses. It shows a strong love for the vernacular of the artist’s native Kashan and the more opaque abstraction from the Eastern painting traditions he deeply understands.

Mohasses’ Apparition is another work collectors hope will make a record auction price. An incredibly rare example of the artist expressing his artistic freedom with fluid and unrestrained creativity, the work is an early example of the artist’s abstract work. It displays Mohasses’ expression of independence from any artistic constraints.

One of the major highlights of Bonhams April sale of Middle Eastern art was Nalini by Jawad Selim. Estimated at the low estimate of £50,000, the work sold for £170,000. For October Bonhams auction house will unveil another piece by Selim. Titled Salome, the work was executed when Selim was in his late teens. Salome is a rare example from a period of Selim’s life from which very few works survive. Handled with a sensitive touch, Selim renders the famed Biblical temptress with remarkable subtlety. Salome represents the extraordinary artistic vision that Selim had honed at such a young age.

Some other interesting pieces in the art auction sale includes Charles Hossein Zenderoudi’s Seconds-Behtarin-Seconds, a 1978 work estimated at £80,000-120,000, Louay Kayyali’s emblematic Seated Man at £40,000-60,000, and Adam Henein’s Fatma, the first sculpture the artist executed shortly after graduating from Cairo’s Academy of Fine Arts in 1953, also rank amongst the standout works from the sale.

Farhad Moshiri’s Rafti..Vali Na Az Del

Curated by Bonhams Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art specialist, Nima Sagharchi, the sale exemplifies Bonhams unflinching commitment to expand the art market. Sagharchi notes that presenting the works of the Middle Eastern artists in an art auction gives the auction house great pride:

It is a point of considerable pride that Bonhams has been able to bring together a group of works that are arguably the finest extant examples from the artists represented; many of the works such as Jewad Selim’s Salome or Farhad Moshiri’s “RaftiVali Na Az Del”, are not only noteworthy for their uniqueness and quality, but standout as milestone works within the respective artists body of work.

Speaking on Bonhams strategy in this specialist collecting area, Sagharchi states: “It is a demonstration not only of our ongoing commitment to the category but our belief in the health and expansion of Middle Eastern art market which has spurred us to present such a distinguished offering for auction.”

Art Exhibition of Works by Middle Eastern Artists

As a prelude to the art sale, several works in the auction will be on display in an art exhibition on March 15, 2014, at the JAMM Gallery. The gallery belongs to H.H Sheikha Lulu Al Sabah.