Sotheby’s international artworks’ auction at Katara

Sotheby’s Ashkan Baghestani shows Anish Kapoor’s “Untitled” stainless steel work at the media preview yesterday. PICTURE: Nasar TKBy Joey Aguilar/Staff ReporterSotheby’s will hold an evening auction featuring 58 top caliber artworks by leading Arab, Iranian and international contemporary artists on April 21 at the Katara Art Centre, Building 5.Renowned Indian artist Anish Kapoor’s “Untitled” stainless steel work from his Pixelated Disk series will be the highlight of the auction. In October last year, Kapoor’s art piece of 2009 topped the sale for $1.595mn (est $700,000-900,000) after an extended bidding – the highest price achieved for a work by the artist in the Middle East. “He is, I think the most renowned Indian artist. Part of the kaleidoscopic series, they are very inviting but as you get closer it is a bit psychedelic and some people say it hurts your eyes, some people say it gets to be more intense,” said Ashkan Baghestani, specialist, Middle East Department at Sotheby’s.Described as a beautiful and “very fragile” artwork (est. $800,000-1.2mn), he believes “Untitled” will also do extremely well this year. Like Kapoor, Baghestani also expects Christopher Wool’s “Untitled” artwork (est. $1mn-1.5mn) to do well – the most expensive art piece for the auction.The artist was born in Chicago in 1955 is known for his large scale paintings of black stencilled letters on white canvases with the words such as “Comedian” “Hypocrite” and phrases as “Run Dog Run”.“Untitled” is one of Wool’s earliest, most desirable and sought-after pattern paintings.Baghestani said the artist has a very prolific career, spanning from a quarter of a century. “This is very much about the repetition of designs patterns where you have no point of focus,” he noted. “The pattern gets lost on the canvass and you will see how human production leads to some errors, very decorative, and very well priced for the artist. First time we are selling him in Doha.”One of Sotheby’s cover lot for the sale is Rudolf Stingel’s “Untitled (Celotex insulation board, wood and aluminum, in two parts est. $600,000-800,000),” a series that started in Milan.In 2001, Stingel transformed the exhibition space of the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York by covering the walls in layers of reflective, aluminum-faced Celotex.He invited viewers to mark, draw, and write on the pristine space at will, their individual traces accumulating into a mass anonymous gesture. “It is a bit of a mirror reflection and people love to see what they do,” said Baghestani.Another highlight of the sale includes Chant Avedissian’s “Icons of the Nile (in 21 parts est. $150,000-200,000), a beautiful mosaic of Pan Arab culture especially Egypt with the most famous celebrities, politicians, and strong figures from the region.Avedissian, a well-known Egyptian artist who was born in Cairo in 1951, studied Fine Art at the School of Art and Design in Montreal. His works is held by known museums in various parts of Africa, Europe and the Middle East.Sotheby’s sale also features Iranian artist Ali Banisadr’s “The Shrine (oil on panel est. $100,000-150,000) under the same series but smaller in scale this year.Baghestani said his artworks is very much influenced by Persian miniatures, sculpture and war scenes.Last year, Banisadr’s “The Chase” (est $180,000-250,000) was sold for $460,000. He has a strong following from Asia to Latin America and a sought-after artist and his work is heavily influenced by his childhood experiences as a refugee of the Iran-Iraq war.The sale also features El Anatsui’s “Introvert,” a found aluminum and copper wire installation that creates a powerful piece which addresses a range of social, political and historical topics (est. $700,000-1mn); and Monir Farmanfarmaian’s “The Wall” (Part of Wall Panel, Bank of Planning Organisation),” a mirror, reverse-glass painting and aluminum.“Farmanfarmaian is currently having a show in New York, which is a very important moment for us in the region,” noted Baghestani. He said they also have Qatari artist Yousef Ahmad’s “The Emergence of the Letter (est. $20,000-30,000),” which is a two-dimensional artwork. Ahmad is one of the pioneers of Qatari art who uses his favourite media: palm leaves. He is the only Qatari artist participating in the auction.