Sotheby’s auction results from last month show continuing promise for the region’s art

Iranian artist Monir Farmanfarmaian’s mesmerising Variations on Hexagon of Octagon Mirrors sold for £245,000 (est. £120,000-150,000) (Courtesy: Sotheby’s)

Following my article earlier this month on the regional art market, I wanted to take the time to publish Sotheby's auction results for their autumn sales. In London, in October, there was a week of sales pertinent to this region with four auctions reaching a total of £14.7 million (Dh65.8m). The auction house posted figures above its pre-sale high estimate for the 20th Century Art from the Middle East sale, with a sell-through rate of 87.5%. The sale was led by the elegant El Amira, the first marble sculpture by Egyptian artist Mahmoud Mokhtar to appear at auction, which sold for £545,000 (Dh2.4m) after a prolonged bidding battle. Iranian artist Monir Farmanfarmaian's mesmerising Variations on Hexagon of Octagon Mirrors also far exceeded its estimate selling for £245,000 (Dh1.1m). There was a new record for Lebanese painter, poet and essayist Etel Adnan, whose exhibition at the Serpentine gallery in London took place earlier this year, as a seminal work from her California series sold for £35,000 (Dh157,000). Further auction records were achieved for Contemporary Iranian artist Hossein Valamanesh and Egyptian artist Ahmed Morsi.

Ashkan Baghestani, Sotheby’s Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art Specialist and Head of Sale, said: “Our London sale has quickly become a major platform for the Middle Eastern art market. This week we presented a tightly-edited selection of pieces by pioneering Modernist figures alongside leading Contemporary artists and emerging names making their first appearance at auction - it was tremendously exciting to see superb results across the board.”

In the Arts of the Islamic World sale a Timurid manuscript of Sa’adi’s Kulliyat, in almost pristine condition, complete with fine, crisp illumination and tooled and filigree-work binding that took at least nine years to complete sold for £473,000 (Dh2.1m). A further highlight was the School of Veronese portrait of Sultan Bayezid I, also known as Yildirım (The Thunderbolt), the fourth ruler of the Ottoman Empire posing with a cross-shoulder glance in the manner of the great masters Giorgione and Titian, sold for £185,000 (Dh828,000).