Over the past decade, Middle Eastern art has gained increasing recognition on the international stage. It has started to catch the attention of Asian collectors, whose tastes have diversified beyond the traditional Asian arts.

Reza Derakshani shows up at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery

Departure

In response to the growing interest, Sotheby’s Hong Kong holds its first exhibition of Middle Eastern art in Asia by bringing the works by two iconic Middle Eastern artists: Reza Derakshani (b. 1952), one of Iran’s most celebrated living artists, and Lebanese-born modern sculptor Alfred Basbous (1924-2006).

Gold Hunt

Garden Party

Derakshani’s works are featured in many public art collections including the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. This dedicated exhibition presents Derakshani’s 15 new paintings, which demonstrate his iconic use of red as well as more sober and nuanced compositions in grey and earthy tones.

Silver Hunt

Shirine & Khosrow

Grounded in Iranian artistic traditions, Derakshani’s dynamic brushstrokes reveal the influence of Western abstract expressionism. This fusion of the Middle East with contemporary art movements from the West creates an idiosyncratic and beautiful body of work and a confluence of cultures. The artist also experiments with tar, glaze, glitter and gold paste.

Femme Acroupie

Woman Nude (on the left)

The exhibition also presents 12 of Alfred Basbous’ bronze and marble sculptures from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Nurturing organic lines, Basbous experimented with figurative and abstracted elements of the human figure, in particular the female body.

Couple

Throughout his life, Basbous won many awards including the “Prix de l’Orient” in Beirut in 1963 and the Biennale prize in Alexandria. His works are part of numerous public collections throughout the world, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Musée Rodin in Paris and the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan.

Syrene

The price range of artworks offered at this selling exhibition is from $35,000 to 100,000 for oil-on-canvas works and from US$15,000 to 80,000 for sculptures.

Two Moderns From The Middle East

Exhibition period: 2017/11/3 - 17
Open hours:
Monday - Friday｜10am - 6pm
Saturday｜11am - 5pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays
Admission: Free

Venue: Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery
Address: 5/F, One Pacific, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong
Enquiries: (852) 2822 556