Continuing the market revival of Orientalist art, Christie’s has announced it will lead its June Orientalist sale with a major painting of the El Khan Khalil souq in Cairo that is expected to fetch £3–5 million (Dh14–23.5 million).
Titled The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo, the work is one of the few remaining in private hands by English painter John Frederick Lewis, and was executed in Lewis's Surrey studio in 1872. It depicts the soaring cloth section of Cairo's main Ottoman-era market, showing traders chatting and selling their wares as light streams down from the tall ceilings above.
Christie's consignment of the work, part of its June Orientalist sale in London, will follow Sotheby's Orientalist sale at the end of this month, when the latter auction house will sell thirty further works from the Najd Collection. The body of work, put together by a Saudi collector and his London dealer, is one of the major holdings of Orientalist work, and Sotheby's sold 36 works in the fall for the impressive sum of £33.6 million. Top lots in that auction were along the lines of the Lewis estimate, though it is difficult to compare them: a painting of Quranic instruction by Osman Hamdy Bey went for £4.6 million and Ludwig Deutsch's The Tribute, which achieved £4.3 million. The paintings going under the block at this Tuesday, March 31 sale include further work by key Orientalist painters, such as Deutsch Rudolf Ernst, and Jean-Leon Gerome – though it will be a smaller sale, with an estimate of £6,145,000–£9,161,000. Sotheby's will also have a second Orientalist sale in March, separate to the Najd Collection.
Is this a rise or rehabilitation of the genre? The strong sales at Sotheby's and Christie's bullish estimate seem to suggest so. Orientalism covers the work made by European and American painters who visited the Middle East and returned transfixed by its scenes. Frequently working off memories and mementoes, they returned back to their studios at home — as did Lewis for El Khan Khalil souq painting – and reconstructed the intricately detailed interiors of mosques and homes, and scenes of gatherings and markets, that they had witnessed during their travels.
The paintings, particularly those concerning the women’s quarters, or harems, came under fire for their romanticising image of the Arab world, but the sumptuousness of the pictures are now seen as a major source of attraction for would-be buyers, who delight in the awed images. As the Arab world lacked a strong pictorial tradition, these are some of the few visual documents of the late Ottoman period, at least before the introduction of photography.
The rise of museums in the Middle East, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, and new collectors in the region have also created a new market for the work. These collections have added another fillip in the oscillation between depicted Arab and Islamic world and European and American exhibition: the British Museum, for example, last year staged an exhibition of Orientalist work drawn from the collection of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.
This increased interest for Orientalism has made the competition for major works all the keener, as suggested by the Najd’s success and the Lewis estimate.
"The Bezestein Bazaar of El Khan Khalil, Cairo is one of the largest paintings by John Frederick Lewis to come to auction as well as one of the last of this calibre remaining in private hands," said Arne Everwijn, Christie's Senior Specialist European Art. "We are thrilled to be presenting this important work to the international market."
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Motori Profile
Date started: March 2020
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Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
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Investors: Safe City Group
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
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Result
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Brraq, Ryan Curatolo (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m; Winner: Bright Melody, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Naval Crown, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m; Winner: Volcanic Sky, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Zainhom, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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