20th Mar 2014 – Gulf Business – Dubai
Global auction house Christie’s said that its latest auction in Dubai saw 140 art works raise a total of over $10.6 million (Dhs39.1 million), an increase of 65 per cent compared to last year’s sales total.
The auction, held on March 19 to coincide with Dubai Art Week, saw a range of Middle Easternmodern and contemporary art on display.
The Pharos Collection of Modern Egyptian Art, expected to sell for around $1.4 million, made $3.89 million, with the top lot of the sale also coming from the collection.
Christie’s dominates the market… with our sales accounting for 74 per cent of the auction market. It is a sign of the continuing strength and maturity of this market that, as in other great art cities around the world, Dubai has taken its place in the international art calendar.
Michael Jeha, Christie’s managing director in the Middle East
Top 10 Most Expensive Art Works Sold:
1. Construction of the Suez Canal (Most Expensive Art Works Sold By Christie’s In Latest Dubai Auction)
Artist: Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925-1965)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $1,023,750
Estimate: $100,000 – $150,000
Buyer: Anonymous
Lot: 24
2. HAGUER
Artist: Mahmoud Saïd (Egyptian, 1897-1964)
Price realised: $663,750
Estimate: $150,000 – $200,000
Buyer: Anonymous
Lot: 6
3. Black 3
Artist: Ali Banisadr (Iranian, b. 1976)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $339,750
Estimate: $120,000 – $180,000
Buyer: Middle East Private
Lot: 184
4. Ta’imlat Mowdou’i (MEDITATIONS)
Artist: Shaker Hassan Al Said (Iraqi, 1925-2004)
Price realised: $207,750
Estimate: $100,000 – $150,000
Buyer: Middle East Private
Lot: 101
5. Samt Lam Yantehi Mada (Neverending Silence)
Samt Lam Yantehi Mada Most Expensive Art Works Sold In Latest Dubai Auction
Artist: Dia Al-Azzawi (Iraqi, b. 1939)
Price realised: $207,750
Estimate: $70,000 – $90,000
Buyer: Anonymous
Lot: 107
6. Untitled
Artist: Farhad Moshiri (Iranian, b. 1963)
Price realised: $207,750
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Buyer: Middle East Private
Lot: 197
7. The Sixth Ode
Artist: Ali Omar Ermes (Libyan, b. 1945)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $195,750
Estimate: $120,000 – $180,000
Buyer: Anonymous
Lot: 178
8. Labour
Artist: Adam Henein (Egyptian, b. 1929)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $171,750
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Buyer: Middle East Private
Lot: 33
9. The Last Supper
THE LAST SUPPER Artist Hassan Soliman Most Expensive Art Works Sold In Latest Dubai Auction
Artist: Hassan Soliman (Egyptian, 1944-2008)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $171,750
Estimate: $80,000 – $120,000
Buyer: Anonymous
Lot: 39
10. Al Deek Al Faseeh
Artist: Shaker Hassan Al Said (Iraqi, 1925-2004)
(WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION)
Price realised: $171,750
Estimate: $80,000 – $100,000
Buyer: Middle East Private
Lot: 102
Jaeger-LeCoultre Middle East Brand Director Renaud Pretet and members of the Touchline board were recently received by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Higher Committee for Dubai Expo 2020 to present the special painting ‘Tawasul Al-Himam’ (The Continuum of Resolve) by Ali Omar Ermes. The great work of art was commissioned by Jeager-LeCoultre and Touchline FZ-LLC in celebration of Dubai’s expo theme.
East-West: Objects Between Cultures
Free entry
Tate Britain: Exhibition
1 September 2006 – 18 February 2007
Ali Omar Ermes, Shadda 1980
Watercolour and gold on paper
635 x 615 mm
Lent by the British Museum
The verse inscription relates to social equality. Like the Tachiste works displayed in this room, ‘Shadda‘ depicts a gesture imbued with meaning. Although some of these Tachiste works are reminiscent of calligraphy, Arabic script is given spiritual significance in Ermes’ work, as a written expression of Qur’anic revelation.
What is the relationship between image and word in this example of calligraphy?