Sotheby's auctions of Arab, Iranian and Islamic art a success - Visual Art - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online
On 4 and 5 October, Sotheby’s auction of art from the Arab world, Iran and other Islamic countries concluded with combined sales of $16,843,460.
Comprised of 123 lots, the sale included major works by leading modern masters such as Louay Kayyali, Fateh Moudarres and Aref El-Rayess, as well as key pieces by some of the foremost contemporary artists, among them Farhad Moshiri, Ziad Antar and Yousef Nabil.
An auction dedicated to contemporary Arab and Iranian art concluded with sales of $3,610,219.
The sale saw ten new auction records set for artists including Bahman Mohasses, Kadhim Hayder, and Nadim Karam, and ten benchmarks established for artists featured for the first time at auction including Hadieh Shafie, Tagreed Darghouth and Ebrahim Olfat.
Among lots included was Iranian artist Bahman Mohasses’s Untitled which sold for $187,452 (estimated $75,000-85,000), setting a new record for the artist at auction.
Mohasses provides an enlightening perspective into the isolated nature of his disposition. He felt confined by his Iranian identity when he was living in Rome and by developing his distinct style, he fell further into fashioning fresco-style paintings juxtaposed with harsh realism.
The second auction of arts of the Islamic world concluded bringing a combined total of $13,233,241.
The top-selling lot of the arts of the Islamic world evening sale was an important post-sasanian silk shirt, originating from Khurasan or Central Asia in the 7th-9th century, which sold for $1,102,684 (est. $900,000-1,200,000).
