DUBAI - A double calligraphy by Egyptian artist Ahmed Mustafa became the most expensive work by an Arab artist on Tuesday, selling for $662,500 at a Christie's auction in Dubai and raising hopes of a recovery in the Middle East’s struggling art market.
Mustafa’s "Remembrance and Gratitude" was the 93 lot to go under the hammer at the fine art sale in a packed auction house that saw around three-quarters of the 166 lots sold for a total of $6.7 million.
The $6.7 million was an increase on the $4.76 million made at the last art sale in April with a similar number of lots up for bidding, but down on pre-auction estimates of between $8.1 million and $11.8 million.
Works by Middle East artists take centre stage, but Indian and Pakistani works also featured prominently.
Christie’s had expected sales of between $12.9 million and $17.8 million over the two-day auction, which on Wednesday will see luxury jewellery and watches go under the hammer.
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.
"Remembrance and Gratitude" broke a previous record of $657,500 set by the sale of a work by the same artist at a Christie’s auction in October 2007.
“There was good competition for pieces tonight ... There were some very sensible prices paid, much more realistic than previous years,” Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s regional president, told Maktoob Business following the auction.
“Tonight’s auction was considerably stronger than April’s sale,” he added.
Tuesday’s auction had been seen as a test of the regional art market, which has been hit by the global recession as auction houses struggle to drum up interest at art events targeting the mega rich.
The Middle East art market, once crucial for international auction houses facing falling sales elsewhere, has become one of the hardest hit globally, with sale prices slumping by more than half, Matthew Girling, Bonhams' regional chief executive, said earlier this month.
Christie's raised $8.65 million from its last art auction in October 2008.
Bonhams, another global auction house, raised $2.8 million in November last year, far below its inaugural regional sale for contemporary art in March 2008 that took $13 million, with 94 percent of lots sold.
Tuesday’s record-breaking sale comes a week after a square, 32.01-carat emerald-cut diamond sold for $7.7 million at auction.
The previous auction record for a 30-carat square cut flawless, colourless diamond was $3.1 million, set at Christie's in Geneva in May.