Iranian Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s London

Date: April 17, 2016 This April Sotheby’s is relaunching its vibrant and exciting international platform for modern and contemporary arts from North Africa, Turkey, the Middle East and Iran in London with the 20th Century Art – Middle East sale scheduled for April 20th in London. The auction will include a number of important and rare works by renowned artists, such as Mahmoud Mokthar, Mahmoud Said, Sohrab Sepehri, Fahrelnissa Zeid and Monir Farmanfarmaian. According to curator Ashkan Baghestani: “the market has never been so vibrant and international, with major retrospectives of Middle Eastern artists at global institutions such as the Guggenheim, the Davis Museum, and the Hirshhorn, as well as a year-long showing of the Barjeel Foundation’s holdings at the Whitechapel. London, with its longstanding historical links to the Middle East, is a natural hub for offering this art to the world at large. What makes our sale an exciting one is the thoughtfulness and variety of its scope. A majestic Mokhtar sculpture vies with an equally imposing Yektai still life; a charmingly quiet portrait by Leyly Matin-Daftari contrasts beautifully with a Gauguinesque Shakir Hassan Al Said.  The selection is fresh, tantalizing and well-priced. Source: sothebys.com THE RUSH HAS BEGUN !  JUST LIKE IT DID WHEN THE  SOVIET UNION  AND CHINA OPENED UP TO THE  MARKETEERS OF THE WEST.