Iranian artworks sold at Bonhams’ online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art

TEHRAN – Two works by Iranian artists were sold at the Bonhams London online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, which took place on August 14.

The collection presented at the auction comprised 45 pieces by various artists from the Middle East, including 10 by artists from Iran, ILNA reported.

The Iranian artists whose works were presented at the auction were Sirak Melkonian, Ebrahim Olfat, Babak Kazemi, Marcos Grigorian, and YZ Kami. However, only two works by Melkonian and Olfat were sold at the event.

An untitled oil on canvas painting by the late artist Melkonian (1930-2024), executed in 2020, was sold for $13,888.

The other sold work was titled “Eshgh (Hafez Poem)” by Olfat, 46. The calligraphy painting, ink and gold leaf on canvas, executed in 2012, realized $5,207.

Sirak Melkonian, an Iranian-Armenian painter and one of the founders of the modern art movement in the country, passed away last August in Toronto, Canada, at 93.

Born in Tehran, Melkonian met Marcos Grigorian, a prominent Iranian-Armenian modernist painter, after graduating from high school, and learned modern European art and the art of the world from him. Melkonian’s early works had a figurative and realistic approach.

In 1957, he won the Contemporary Iranian Artists Award at the Iran-America Society, and in 1958, he won the Imperial Court Prize at Tehran Biennial. Grigorian encouraged him to move to Italy to study art at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. He quit studying there and continued learning art experimentally. He participated in the Venice Biennale and soon afterward won the Paris Biennale prize.

In the early 1960s, Melkonian began focusing more specifically on abstraction in his work and became a leading figure in the Iranian art scene due to his successes at home and internationally.

Melkonian founded the Azad Art Group in the early 1970s, with some other important artists living and working in Iran at the time. They were introduced formally at the Tehran International Art Fair in 1974, pushing the boundaries and understanding of conceptual art and installation works in Iran.

Limited color palettes and the emphasis on line and form in Melkonian’s works have always been more important than the subject. The figurative language of his works has found an expressionist and then an abstract side over time. Melkonian’s mastery of the visual qualities of line and color has created a perfect cohesion and balance that may be considered the closest common feature of his works with pristine nature.

Melkonian exhibited his work in over 140 exhibitions worldwide, from Tehran to Paris, New York to Yerevan. His works can be found in major public and private international collections, such as the Niavaran Palace, TMoCA, and LACMA.

Ebrahim Olfat, an international artist specializing in calligraphy, holds a Master’s degree in Graphic Design from Azad University, is a graduate of the Iranian Calligraphers Association, and earned a medical degree from Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. 

He is proficient in more than 20 different calligraphic scripts, including Nastaʿlīq, Shekasteh Nastaʿlīq, Thuluth, Naskh, Kufic, Ruqʿah, and Diwani, and his works feature a diverse range of calligraphic compositions. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions and international auctions.

Olfat is best known for his unique lightboxes—works that combine light and modern calligraphy—which have been showcased and sold multiple times at prestigious international auctions such as Sotheby’s London (2011), Christie’s Paris (2011), and Christie’s Dubai (2012). 

The modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art market has experienced significant growth since the category began gaining recognition among collectors regionally and globally over the past decade. Twentieth-century Arab and Iranian Art has witnessed an extraordinary development that is in keeping with the rich artistic legacy of the region and is reflected in the world’s long-standing fascination and interest in Middle Eastern art and culture.

Bonhams has maintained a significant international presence in the market since the early years of its development. During the inaugural sale of modern Middle Eastern art in Dubai in 2008, Bonhams broke 33 world records and witnessed the first Middle Eastern artwork to achieve an auction sale of over one million dollars; Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri’s stunning mixed media work “Eshgh”.

Since then, Bonhams has firmly established itself as one of the leading auction houses in the category, holding regular bi-annual sales first in Dubai and now in London, in recognition of the growing international market for art from the Middle East and surrounding regions.

Photo: Calligraphy painting “Eshgh” by Ebrahim Olfat

SS/SAB