Rare Etel Adnan Joins Sotheby’s Middle East Contemporary Art Auction | Catch My Job

The much-vaunted calendar of Sotheby’s Middle East exhibitions opens in London this week with a vast and spectacular collection covering Islamic art. oriental painting and contemporary Arab including an unseen painting by the late Etel Adnan.

From modern paintings, paintings, sculptures and ceramics by artists across the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Iran and Turkey to works produced during 1,200 years of Islamic patronage. The exhibition will be open to the public in London from October 21-25 before viewing Hammer.

The UK auction house said the exhibit, which included Indian art, had a combined bid of around £17 million ($19.1 million) to £24.5 million.

While historical pieces of Islamic significance, such as the rare 16th-century collection from Shahnameh or the Book of Kings, created for Shah Tahmasp of Persia and valued at up to £6 million, are expected to attract bidders. At the most lucrative, fans of the region’s modern artists can buy equally outstanding works at affordable prices.

A special highlight is the artwork by the famous American-Lebanese artist Adnan since the 1970s that has never been exhibited or sold before.

Given as a gift in the early 1970s to the Idriss family, an old friend of Adnan. Abstract painting. California, Melica Khansari, Sotheby’s head of communications for the Middle East, said it was an “exciting new discovery” that the winning bid was expected to “set a record” for the sale of Adnan work.

An online auction for contemporary works from the Middle East has now opened. with the highest bidder for California It’s at £140,000 with five days left before the auction ends.

Adnan was born in 1925 to a Greek mother and Syrian father. and grew up in Beirut Lebanon while studying at a French language school in Lebanon She read philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Her most famous literary work, known as a writer and poet, is her 1977 novel. Sitt Marie RoseBut Adnan, who died last year at the age of 96, has always been a successful artist.

She began painting in the late 1950s while working as a professor of philosophy in California. and became known for her colorful abstract compositions later in life.

Californiawhich was painted during the time of the Lebanese artist living in the golden state of America. It shows the beauty of Adnan’s cubist abstraction of the urban landscape of the small town of Sausalito. waterfront in San Francisco Bay where she lives.

Sotheby’s head of sales at 20th Century Middle East Auctions described the painting as a “The peculiarities of Adnan’s signature technique combine with latent for reflection and reflection.”

“The city was formed by a combination of contrasting geometric shapes. Stuck between pale gray skies and red abstract mounds glowing red under crimson stars. Although this painting clearly reflects a specific landscape in Adnan’s memory, But it also leaves a wide gap for interpretation to the audience. with red shapes reminiscent of either a hill or a sea at dusk or a city dawn,” Alexandra Roy wrote.

For Nadania Idriss, who grew up in San Francisco and met the artist she first known as “Auntie Etel” when she was a child. Art means a lot more than that.

“Etel gave this painting to my parents when they moved to the Bay Area. It was certainly an important part of my childhood and education. It is often in a prominent place in our living room. My parents viewed collectibles as common property. My brother, who is five years older than me. At first took things with him when he moved out. He returned the painting a few years later. and then gave it to me,” said Idriss. nation.

California It has been hanging on her walls in Berlin since she moved there, and in 2011 founded Berlin Glas, a non-profit organization that collaborates with artists and educators to promote opportunities for working with glass among young people. and immigrant communities

After worrying about the condition of the “precious” artwork in his dry, sunny home, Idriss decided the painting was in a more suitable environment. Proceeds from the sale will be used for the Berlin Glas program and to upgrade the studio building.

“I remember my mother telling me that Etel was happy to work directly with the visual arts,” Ms Idriss wrote.

“I think Etel would be delighted to know that her paintings will support our program of community building, integration and art.”

Sotheby’s auction of 20th century art from the Middle East takes place online from October 19 to 25. Art of the Islamic and Indian world uses Scheduled for October 26

Updated: October 24, 2022, 6:47 a.m.