AYYAM AUCTIONS SALE N° 6 RESULTS (AACC) | DUBAI

On October 29, 2010, Ayyam Auction’s Sale No. 6 drew significant crowds of seasoned and burgeoning art collectors with over 70 lots of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art spanning nearly 100 years. With many offered works exceeding initial estimates, the auction garnered over $1 million USD in sales, as bidders boldly contended for Huguette Caland’s melodic mixed media on canvas “La Mer 2” (2008), which sold for $54,000, and vied for Tawfik Tarek’s historical “Damascus” (1920), which fetched $48,000.

Held at the newly inaugurated Ayyam Art Center in Dubai, the public auction featured the work of such prominent contemporary figures as Safwan Dahoul, Huda Lutfi and Moustafa Ali alongside examples by rising stars Elias Izoli, Kais Salman and Oussama Diab.

In addition to presenting an exciting range of some of the region’s most sought-after contemporary artists, Sale No. 6 also honored the Arab world’s rich modernist legacy by providing art lovers with the opportunity to bid on paintings by some of the most influential Arab artists of the 20th century, including Fateh Moudarres, Louay Kayyali and Paul Guiragossian and a special selection of masterpieces from the collection of former Syrian Prime Minister H.E. Dr Abdel Raouf Elkassem.

Complementing this impressive modernist line-up were artists from various influential movements, including the students of many seminal artists, painters whom would later become contemporary pioneers such as Asaad Arabi, Asma Fayoumi and Ghassan Sebai.