Dubai: Christie's has set the highest guide price ever for a work by an Arab artist by putting a value of $600,000 to $800,000 on a double calligraphy by Egyptian artist Ahmad Mustafa.
Mustafa’s "Remembrance and Gratitude" will go under the hammer in Dubai on Tuesday at a two-day auction at which the fine arts firm expects sales of between $12.9 and $17.8 million. "Expectations are very high, especially with regards to the exhibited works of exceptional quality," Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie's Middle East and Europe president, told news agencies.
The bulk of Mustafa’s work is derived from sacred Qur'anic texts but the startling visual impact of his palettes makes them immediately accessible as numinous images to his audience, irrespective of whether the texts can be read or not.
Works by Middle East artists take centre stage, with other prominent Arab items including a landscape painting by late Syrian artist Fateh Moudarres valued at $180,000-$250,000. Indian and Pakistani works also feature prominently, and Christie's has put a value of up to half a million dollars on a giant painting by Maqbool Fida Hussain.
The first night of the auction in a Dubai hotel will focus on modern and contemporary art while the second will highlight jewellery and watches. "There is a lot of liquidity in the art market... the demand for the arts has risen this year, and the value of sales by Christie's rose 5 percent compared to last year," Pylkkanen said.
"The market in the region has matured," he said, citing the "proportion of the paintings coming from outside the region and the proportion of buyers from outside the region." "Fifty-five per cent of sales are expected to come from buyers residing outside the Middle East," he added.
Michael Jeha, the firm's Middle East managing director, told reporters that since its first auction in 2006 Christie's sales in Dubai have risen by 400 per cent. "We have sold so far works of art and jewellery worth 125 million dollars," he added.
Pylkkanen said watches registered the greatest growth in sales. The jewellery highlight at the auction is expected to be a pair of diamond earrings, each weighing slightly more than 15 carats, with an estimated value of between $400,000 and $600,000.
