A total of 8 artworks from 6 Iranian artists were sold at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Doha auction, which totally netted $8 million on October 13, at the Katara Art Centre.
While records were established for 13 artists, 84.6% of the total artworks (44 out of 52) were sold by lot. According to sale specialists, a sale is deemed successful if it sells around 70% of the total lots, honaronline reported.
Following last year’s successful auction in which nine records were broken, this year’s Sotheby’s annual auction included a selection of high-caliber works from many leading Middle Eastern, as well as international contemporary artists. Outstanding examples of photography and painting were featured in addition to an elegant exhibition of curated highlights, which will be on display in London and New York.
The highest price for an Iranian artist’s work was for Ali Banisadr’s ‘The Chase’ (estimated $180,000-250,000), which sold for $557,000. Banisadr, who has a strong following from Asia to Latin America, is a much sought-after artist and his work is heavily influenced by his childhood experiences.
Highest Price
However, the auction fetched the highest price for works by Damien Hirst (the UK) and Anish Kapoor (India) in a Middle Eastern sale, Sotheby’s senior vice-president Aileen Agopian said.
Kapoor’s ‘Untitled’ stainless steel work of 2009 topped the sales. It was sold for nearly $1.6million (estimated $700,000-$900,000) after extended bidding – the highest price achieved for a work by the artist in the Middle East.
Hirst’s ‘Tranquility’ (estimated $1m-$1.5m) from his Kaleidoscope series of butterfly paintings was sold for $845,000, while his ‘Affliction’ (flies and resin on canvas) was sold for $575,000.
The 8 works from Iranian artists presented at the auction sold more than $1 million. The artworks included: ‘Passage’ and ‘Tooba Series’ by Shirin Neshat, ‘Three Brothers’ by Monir Farmanfarmayan, ‘10211’ pages by Hadieh Shafie, Farhad Moshiri’s ‘9NMR1’, and untitled works by Hossein Zendehroodi, Farhad Moshiri, and Bahman Mohasses.
Record Prices
Agopian said bidders from 22 countries attended the event and drove prices to record levels for 13 artists. “That is an extraordinary feat as well,” she added. “What is equally important for us is that we have bidders from around the world aggressively bidding on international and contemporary Middle Eastern artists.”
Citing the success of the auction last year with nine records, she described this year’s achievement as “phenomenal and a tremendous, resounding success.”
The Doha sale showcased a diversity of artistic styles in the Middle East featuring works by sought-after and established artists as well as emerging ones from both the region and internationally.
Artworks from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine were exhibited and sold alongside works by internationally acclaimed artists from the US and UK.
