Fine orientalist art achieves 78% sale at Bonhams in Dubai

Having achieved US$ 2.25 million in sale, the most expensive sale of the night was the US$ 826,000 achieved for lot 28, the exceptional Rudolph Swoboda painting 'The Carpet Seller', a highly evocative image of bartering at the streets of Cairo, painted in 1895 at the peak of the artist's powers.

Giles Peppiatt, Director of Bonhams' Orientalist Picture department commented after the sale: "It was enormously gratifying to have these works greeted with such enthusiasm in this region. The majority was bought by private collectors from the Middle East who outbid strong international competition."

"From the works of art, the continued attraction of antique Islamic edged weapons was in evidence with a price of $38,400 for lot 36, the jewelled encrusted jambiya, almost eight-times its original pre-sale estimate."

Among the lot was a contemporary painting by Yusuf Arakkal titled 'The Lazy Afternoon' was completely donated by Bonhams to the Children's Hope Foundation, a humanitarian organisation working towards the welfare of underprivileged children across the world.

Matthew Girling, Chief Executive of Bonhams Dubai commented:

"This was our third sale in Dubai and the first of its kind. We are committed to expanding and growing the art market in the UAE and it was encouraging to have a different type of sale received in such a positive and enthusiastic fashion."

"As the art market develops in the region we very much hope to be offering a more varied selection of art works to meet local collectors' demands in the future. The sale demonstrated the underlying strength of the art market in the UAE despite the current economic challenges." he added.