(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Sotheby's contemporary art auction held at Katara Art Centre last night collected $7,511,125 and set 11 records.
The top lot was Christopher Wool's 'Untitled' which fetched $1.33m. The painting is one of the artist's earliest and sought-after pattern paintings created using paint rollers incised with floral designs that transferred the patterns onto an aluminum canvas.
"There was excitement behind the Christopher Wool painting which sold over a million dollars, the most expensive lot in this sale. This is the first time the artist has ever been presented within the Middle Eastern exhibition for sale," said Aileen Agopian, Sotheby's Senior Vice President, Senior International Contemporary Art Specialist.
Agopian said buyers came from the Middle East, Europe, America and Asia and that there has been surge in demand for artists from the region from collectors around the world.
"We were able to achieve 11 new artist records for a lot of incredible Middle Eastern and Iranian artists. We really wanted to create this dialogue on the Middle Eastern Iranian artists and the greater international names and I think we were able to achieve that," she said.
One of the artists who set a new record was Saudi artist Abdulla Qandeel whose painting 'The Race' sold for $220,000 beyond its estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. The painting depicts Qandeel's passion to expand the boundaries of art in his home country and was influenced by his Arabian heritage combined with newer bold abstraction.
Last year, Qandeel's painting 'The Enemy Within' also set a record, fetching $209,000 (estimated at $20,000-$30,000).
British-Iranian artist Kour Pour's 'Love Child' also achieved record for the artist fetching $162,500 (which was estimated at $70,000-$90,000). One of the top lots, the painting is a mosaic of carpets whose designs were influenced by trade with Chinese, Europeans and Indians.
"We're very pleased to be back in Doha. We were just here in October. It's wonderful to be able to follow-up on the success of that sale with the one this evening. We want to challenge and expose the community here and the wider collecting circle in the Middle East by bringing different artists that we had in the past intermingling them with the Middle Eastern artists," said Agopian.
This was the third consecutive year Sotheby's has made Doha the venue for a contemporary art sale. Last year's auction raised over $8m and set 13 records.
Solidly, we sold within our estimate. All of the major works really achieved strong prices and they found wonderful homes in the countries they are going to around the world which I think is a key part of what we are doing here, that the works are disseminated within the Middle East, in America, Europe and Asia," she added.
The auction by Alexander Rotter, Sotheby's Co-Head of Contemporary Art, saw art enthusiasts from around the world aggressively bid for 58 lots that went under the hammer, most of which were by Middle Eastern artists.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.