DOHA.- Sotheby’s confirmed that its first ever major international auction series in the Middle East will take place on Wednesday, March 18 and Thursday, March 19, 2009 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Sotheby’s two-day international auction series will include sales of Orientalist Art, Watches, Arab, Iranian and International Contemporary Art. Highlights from all the auctions will be exhibited in the United Arab Emirates in February prior to the sales and will be on pre-sale view at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Doha on March 16 and 17, 2009.

Contemporary Art Sale
The Contemporary Art Sale will include in the region of 50-70 lots of International, Arab and Iranian Contemporary Art and is estimated to realise in excess US$10 million. One of the current highlights of the Arab and Iranian component of the sale will be Mohammad Ehsai’s (b.1939) oil on canvas Eshgh (Love), 2006, in two parts, which is estimated at $150,000-200,000.

Fine Watches Sale
The auction will comprise fine and important watches by all the renowned watchmakers, including IWC, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breguet, Cartier and Audemars Piguet.

One of the most important highlights in the auction will be a fine and impressive white gold and diamond set minute repeating wristwatch (the total diamond weight is 10.5 carats) which measures 40mm in width, circa 2000, by the maker Breguet. The watch is estimated at US$240,000–440,000.

Another major highlight of the auction will be a magnificent white gold and diamond set bracelet watch (total diamond weight 39 carats), Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, measuring 38mm in width, which is estimated at US$300,000–500,000.

The Orientalist Sale
Sotheby’s Orientalist Sale in Doha will present an impressive showcase of Middle Eastern-inspired works, including important paintings by Rudolf Ernst and Jean Baptist Huysmans.

Highlighting the sale will be an important work by the Austrian artist Rudolf Ernst, who was one of a generation of artists that took their inspiration from scenes of daily life in the Middle East, rather than political events like their predecessors, Eugène Delacroix and Horace Vernet. Ernst’s oil on panel The Waterpipe Smoker (28 by 36 1/4 inches) is estimated to realise US$400,000-600,000.

Another important painting in the auction is an oil on canvas (measuring 17 1/2 by 29 inches) by Jean Baptist Huysmans entitled A Private Meeting, illustrated right, which is estimated at US$60,000-80,000.