Contemporary Art Middle East

Christie’s Guide to Collecting Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art

By looking inward to Middle Eastern culture post impressionism reverted to a more traditional approach addressing the imbalance of genders in Middle Eastern art.

Iranian Art

Interest in modern Iranian art began to take off, first in the Middle East and then globally, after Christie’s held its first Dubai auction of Middle Eastern art in 2006. Sussan Babaie, art historian at the Courtald Institute of Art in London, told Tehran Bureau the surge of interest in Iranian art resulted from the amount of art the country had been producing while isolated from international buyers.

The boom in Iranian art lasted only until 2008, when just before the world recession, Christie’s Dubai auction sales peaked at about $29m for the year. Michael Jeha, Dubai managing director and head of sales of Christie’s, said widespread speculation in Iran’s art ended with the financial crisis and the onset of tighter international sanctions against Iran.

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In 2009, sales at Christie’s in Dubai plummeted to $12m. And while Dubai had long been a hub for Iranian trade, sanctions against Iran after 2010 made sales even more difficult for Iran-based artists, who were unable to receive payment through many international banks and forced to resort to unreliable third parties. Dubai reluctantly implemented most sanctions by 2012 and became unwilling to process payments, even for non-sanctioned goods like art.

Times change. Dubai is now expected to benefit from the easing of sanctions in the coming year, and prices for Iranian art are already rising there. Christie’s Dubai sales will reach about $19m this year.

Demand for Iranian art is generally reflecting a global trend of rising interest in modern work, said Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic, the art market research company.

Collectors are crucial to sustaining demand for Iranian art after the years of boom and bust. So, what are they looking for? The Collectors, featured above, takes you behind the scenes.


This article is part of a multimedia project by ReframeIran, published in partnership with The Tehran Bureau. Contact us @tehranbureau

Collectors of Iranian Art are interested in the prestige of art ownership. This is a visual way to display wealth.

Sotheby’s Guide to Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art

Rochan Gallery

Nestled between high-end boutiques and upmarket exhibition spaces along Jeddah’s Golden Mile, Tahlia Street, the Rochan Gallery shares its home with the nearby Athr Gallery, Jeddah Atelier and The Saudi Center for Fine Arts. Rochan fills its exhibition spaces with an impressive fine arts collection. Two of the prestigious Saudi photographers that exhibit work there include Faismal Samra and Shadia Alem: Samra is an independent artist living in Bahrain who specialises in innovative digital photography and video installations, and Alem is a self-taught artist from Mecca recognised for her captivating photos and clever use of light.


Rochan Gallery, Al Andalus, 9778, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, +966 6764 4172

https://www.artxist.com/Sanatci-Cv/Seda-Hepsev/14

A Day in the Studio Nuri 

Acrylic on canvas, 125 x 190 cm, 2008