Iranian Art Rocks Christie’s Auction in Dubai

Iranian art was a big hit at Christie’s Dubai auction this year!

Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art auction was held on March 18, 2015. Many Iranian artists were exhibited including female artist Monir Farmanfarmaian whose piece Zahra’s Image sold for an astounding $395,000 making it one of the biggest highlights of this years auction, and a record for the artist.

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Monir Farmanfarmaian, Zahar’s Image, 2009

All the Iranian art offered this year was sold!

Another prominent Iranian artist who had his work for sale was Hossein Zenderoudi, whose piece sold for a staggering $293,000.

Charles Hossein Zenderoudi is a renowned Iranian painter and sculptor, known especially as a pioneer of Iranian modern art. In a previous Christi’s International Dubai auction, Zenderoudi’s work, Tchaar Bagh, sold for $1.6 million.

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Hossein Zenderoudi, Tchaar Bagh, 1981

Tehran native and painter Rokni Haerizadeh had a piece that sold for $221,000 breaking his record for amount paid for one of his works.

Haerizadeh uses painting as a means to critique the hypocritical aspects of his culture. For example, Haerizadeh’s Typical Iranian Wedding ironically describes the rigmarole of getting hitched, Persian style.

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Rokni Haerizadeh, Typical Iranian Wedding, 2008

Other artists included in this year’s auction were abstract painter Sohrab Sepehri, calligraphy paintings by Mohammad Ehsaii, as well as a painting by Kurosh Shishegaran.

The highest lot sold at the auction however did not belong to an Iranian artist. It went to Egyptian artist Tahia Halim whose piece sold for a staggering $749,000.

Nonetheless, it was evident from past as well as this years auction, that Iranian art has a strong following and support from the international Art World.

Iranian artists ranging in age and gender are taking the international art scene by storm, and we can be sure that at this rate, they will not be loosing traction any time soon.

Iranian Artists at Christie’s 2014 Dubai Auction [Part II]

Last week was part two of Christie’s “Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art” auction, which took place 21 October 2014 in Dubai. Out of a total of 121 lots, 31 of them were works by Iranian artists.

Christie’s reports that the auction had the highest sale total for the category since 2010, realizing a total of $12,510,875 from the $8.5 million estimate. 19 new artist records were set, including Iranian artists Bahman Mohassess and Koorosh Shishegaran.

Tavoos reports:

Highlights of the last night`s auction include “Bergere a Alamein” an artwork by the Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said (1897-1964) sold for $869,000, “Nasser and the Nationalization of the Canal” by another Egyptian artist Hamed Ewais (1919-2011) sold for $557,000 and “Untitled” by Iraqi artist Mahmoud Sabri (1927-2012) which sold for $425,000.

The record for Iranian artworks sold at the auction was set by “The Last Poet of Iran”, a painting by veteran artist and sculptor Parviz Tanavoli sold for $365,000, followed by “Untitled” a painting by Sohrab Sepehri from his “Tree Trunk” series and an artwork by Farhad Moshiri entitled “Toothpicker” which both sold for $269,000. Works by other Iranian artists such as Ali Banisadr, Manoucher Yektai, Charles-Hossein Zenderoudi, Ali Shirazi, Leyli Matin-Daftari, Houshang Pezeshknia, and many others were also sold during the last night’s auction.

All in all, a great haul for Iranian and Middle Eastern art!