FIRST EXHIBITION CURATED BY NEW MANAGEMENT
Ridha Moumni, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Middle East
Meagan Kelly Horsman, Managing Director, Christie’s Middle East
Dubai – From mirrored disco balls to painted diptychs, Christie’s Middle East is hosting a diverse ‘first look’ at some of the contemporary highlights of its forthcoming Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art auctions, on show at Christie’s DIFC from 16 to 24 September 2022. At the same time, visitors can experience pieces from Robert Devereux’s Sina Jina Collection, underscoring the growing regional interest in African art.
Christie’s will hold its online sale of Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, from 12 October to 3 November as well as a live auction for Modern Middle Eastern Art on 2 November in London, supported by exhibitions and programming. The auctions present iconic piecesfrom the Arab World and Iran, including masterpieces of Mohammed Melehi, Monir
Farmanfarmaian and Etel Adnan. The auctions also present a more contemporary focus, including both emerging and established artists from the region such as Ali Cherri, Dana Awartani, Ahmed Mater, and YZ Kami.
“Creating and expanding a global platform for the appreciation and sale of artworks from the Middle East has been a key objective for Christie’s since 2005, and we are bringing some stellar sale highlights to the region. The opportunity to appreciate these works in person and discuss collecting trends with our specialists are among the benefits of Christie’s presence in the market,” said Dr. Ridha Moumni, Deputy Chairman, Christie’s Middle East.
Collectors have the opportunity to see Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s reverse glass mosaic Mirror Ball from the 1970s, examples of which were included in the artist’s 2015 retrospective at the Guggenheim in New York, and one of which was a gift from the artist to her dear friend Andy Warhol.
Estimate: GBP £60,000-80,000
Continuing the themes of light and art as a reflection of society, a lightbox by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ahmed Mater entitled Evolution of Man (2010) will illuminate the Christie’s showroom, echoing the country’s rapid growth since the discovery of oil.
Estimate: GBP £25,000-30,000
The late Palestinian painter and art historian Kamal Boullata’s painting Angelus II1 (2017) demonstrates his command of colourful geometric abstraction, honed through years of study at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome and the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC.
Estimate: GBP £25,000-35,000
Also among Christie’s sales highlights in Dubai is Iraqi contemporary artist Hayv Kahraman’s The Interpreter (2016), uniting Asian and European influences, drawing inspiration from many feminist ideologies, and exploring the concept of women burdened by their own culture.
(ill. Front page). Estimate: GBP £50,000-70,000
Included in Christie’s online Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale is Hollyland (2019) by Palestinian artist Hazem Harb, which layers acrylic lettering spelling out ‘Hollyland’ in Hollywood’s ubiquitous squared lettering over an archival photograph of Jerusalem.
Estimate: GBP £25,000-35,000
Following the Christie’s collaboration with Gallery 1957 in December 2021 to showcase African art in the UAE, Christie’s Dubai will exhibit works from Robert Devereux’s Sina Jina Collection. The 70-work auction on 13 October in London is anticipated to be the largest single owner sale of contemporary art from Africa and the diaspora as demand continues to expand.
Robert Devereux has supported the arts and artists since the 1980’s and began acquiring works for his Sina Jina Collection in the early 2000’s.
Taking its name from Swahili, ‘sina jina’ translates as a place with no name, a phrase associated with Devereux’s house on the island of Lamu, Kenya.
Christie’s Dubai will be unveiling L.S. Lowry’s iconic painting, Going to the Match (1953, estimate: £5,000,000-8,000,000) as the leading highlight of the Modern British & Irish Art Evening Sale taking place on 19 October 2022 London.
Going to the Match is a poignant combination of two of the most enduring subjects of Lowry’s oeuvre: the post-industrial landscape of Northern England and the central role that football and other sporting events played there. With showcasing the painting in Dubai, Christie’s underlines the importance of its office as hub for the wider region.
The painting will be publicly showcased alongside highlights from the upcoming Middle Eastern Modern and Contemporary Art sales at the company’s representative office at DIFC from 16 to 24 September.