LONDON.- Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art formed a significant part of Bonhams Islamic and Indian sale in London yesterday, October 7th, selling for a total of £1.32million with eight new world records achieved. The whole sale made a total of £3.4 million.

The carefully curated selection of 96 Middle Eastern lots sold for more than the equivalent sale earlier this year, achieving 76% sold by value.

Top lots in this Middle Eastern section included “Hanging Clothes” by Sohrab Sepehri which made £146,500, sold to benefit Encylopaeda Iranica. Ayman Baalbaki’s “L’Armonial” made £104,500 (an auction record for a work from the artists “War” series), and Iranian neo-traditionalist pioneer, Charles Hossein Zenderoudi’s “SECOND-BEHTARIN-SECONDS” sold for £98,500.

Bonhams set eight artists records for works by Sirak Melkonian, Fouad Kamel, Ahmed Shibrain, Faeq Hassan, Madiha Omar, Saleh Al-Jumaie, Einoddin Sadeghzadeh and Kadhim Hayder. A work by Jewad Selim’s Salome at £52,500 is a record for a work on paper by the artist

Nima Sagharchi Head of Middle Eastern Art at Bonhams said after the sale: “We were delighted with this result, which exceeded our April sale total and set several artists records; the performance of the sale, and the participation of a wide range of buyers demonstrates that there is a growing appetite for art from the Middle East within the international market.”