Christie’s took over $20 million at its fourth auction in Dubai. Most of the works were by Arab and Iranian artists, with six works by Iranian artists dominating seven of the top lots.

Iranian artist Parviz Tanavaoli’s The Wall (Oh Persepolis), a nearly 6-foot-high bronze sculpture covered in hieroglyphics, broke the auction record for a Middle Eastern artist, going for $2.84 million. Tchaar-Bagh, an oil-and-acrylic calligraphic work by Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, went for $1.6 million, setting the new record for a modern Middle Eastern painting. The most expensive Arab work was Meditations on Three Themes from Sura Ya’ Sin by Ahmed Moustafa, which sold for $421,000 against a high estimate of $400,000.

“Christie’s continue to drive and dominate the market for contemporary Middle Eastern and Iranian art, and this evening’s auction was another landmark event for the art market in the region,” the auction house’s International Modern and Contemporary Art specialist and head of sale, William Lawrie, said in a statement.

The evening auction followed Tuesday’s Jewels and Watches auction; together, the two events grossed more than $40 million, far exceeding the London-based auction house’s expectations

Buyers from the Middle East and Iran accounted for 77 percent of the total sales; 84 percent of the lots sold.

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Posted: 05|2|08 at 9:32 am. Filed under: News.