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| Christie’s launch exhibition in Katara Doha Qatar |
Katara, the cultural village, and leading global art business Christie’s are launching a partnership with an exhibition of arts of the Islamic and Indian worlds, and modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art today and tomorrow (Friday and Saturday).
The partnership was announced yesterday by Katara president Abdulrahman al-Khulaifi and a panel of top officials from Christie’s, including Paul Hewitt (international business development director), William Robinson (international head of rugs and carpets and art of the Islamic and Indian worlds), Michael Jeha (managing director, Middle East), and Hala Khayat (specialist, contemporary Middle Eastern and Iranian art).
More than half of the exhibited objects from the Islamic and Indian worlds are from a private collection donated to benefit the University of Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries, where they will be used to fund a chair in Sasanian studies, the first one in the UK.
The collection, representing 10 centuries of arts from the region, comprises about 50 lots consisting of works on paper, including calligraphic works, Qur’ans and Indian miniatures – the latter from a number of different royal manuscripts dating from the early Mughal period, particularly under the emperor Akbar (1556-1605).
The highlight is a rare and important Mufradat manuscript, copied by the master calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta’simi (a leading figure of the 13th century Baghdad school and considered to be the most influential Islamic calligrapher) and estimated at £800,000 to £1,200,000.
“A Mufradat is an unusual work where a calligrapher demonstrates the perfect formation of each letter,” Robinson explained.
Other important examples of calligraphy include a Kufic Qur’an written entirely in gold from 16th century Safavid Herat or Bukhara (estimated value £200,000-300,000) and a blue Qur’an folio from 9th century Kairouan (estimated value £150,000-250,000).
The Indian miniature section is led by an illustration from Zafarnama, a history of the post-Mongol conqueror Timur, showing the emperor enthroned (estimate: £30,000-50,000) and a victorious allegorical portrait of the emperor Jahangir dating from the 17th century (estimate: £60,000-80,000).
The sale of Art of the Islamic & Indian Worlds includes an array of Ottoman Turkish works of art, including over 20 pieces of Iznik pottery.
The most exceptional lot is an impressive large Iznik pottery dish, circa 1585-90, estimated at £80,000 to £120,000 which combines floral and arabesque motifs in vivid colours.
It was bought at Christie’s in 1905 from the collection of Louis Huth and has passed by descent to the present owner, is exhibited for the first time in over a century.
The modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish works will be led by a work by the internationally recognised contemporary Iraqi artist Ahmed Alsoudani, and a key work by the father of modern Egyptian art, Mahmoud Saïd.
Other highlights include pieces by Ayman Baalbaki, Jewad Selim, Louay Kayyali, Mohamed Ehsai, Parviz Tanavoli and Nasrollah Afjehei and the Turkish artist Burhan Cahit Doğançay.
The highest-value picture in the group is a work by Alsoudani, whose work has been sold internationally, most notably at Christie’s last October in London where a new world auction record was set for the artist when his Baghdad I sold for $1.1mn.
The present work is a striking image of a disfigured face surrounded by shattered forms.
Painted in 2008, this is the earliest example of the artist including a dictator figure in his work and it carries an estimate of $300,000-500,000.
Saïd’s (1897-1964) view of a woman and donkeys beside the Nile with a mountain range beyond comes from an unnamed private Egyptian collector and has not been seen in the public for many years.
Christie’s education director of studies Veronique Chagnon-Burke will give lectures today on “The Language of Art” (5pm to 6pm) and “The Structure of the Art World” (7pm to 8pm).
Jeha is to speak tomorrow at 2pm on “Art as Investment”. About 35 seats are available for the lectures, which are open to the public for free, as is the exhibition.
Source from GulfTimes
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