Photo: ‘The Whirling Dervishes,’ one of the paintings to be included in the Christie’s exhibition

The world’s leading art business Christie’s will host a public art exhibition in Doha from October 3 to 5 at The Four Seasons Hotel, showing highlights of modern Middle Eastern art, it was announced yesterday.

Open to the public on October 4 and 5, the event is to feature works from the Collection of Dr Mohamed Said Farsi, the first Lord Mayor of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and one of the Middle East’s great patrons of visual arts.

“We are delighted to announce its support for Doha: The Arab Capital of Culture 2010, the initiative undertaken by the Arab League and Unesco to promote and celebrate Arab culture in the region,” Christie’s Middle East and Europe president Jussi Pylkkanen said.

Qatar Museums Authority executive director Roger Mandle expressed his delight to see the presence of Christie’s in Qatar, since their sales events are opportunities for learning, appreciation and acquisition.

“Their forthcoming exhibition in Doha is further evidence of Qatar’s emergence as a focus for the arts and culture in the Middle East,” he stated.

Pylkkanen, a regular visitor to the Middle East, observed that it is a huge honour to be invited to contribute to the year-long programme of events to place Doha at the centre of cultural excellence in the Middle East.

“Christie’s has been involved in many educational initiatives in the region since we opened our office in Dubai in 2005, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to show the Farsi Collection in Doha,” he said.

To further underline Christie’s commitment to the region, Pylkkanen added that he will be joined in Doha by his two senior colleagues Edward Dolman, chief executive officer, and Stephen Lash, chairman of Christie’s America.

The exhibition follows the record breaking sale at Christie’s in Dubai last April of 25 works from the Collection of Dr Farsi, which was a 100% sold this April.

Christie’s will bring around 40 Middle Eastern works of art to Doha and this exquisite group of paintings will be highlighted by ‘The Whirling Dervishes’ by Mahmoud Said (1897-1964).

It is also one of 20 important works of Egyptian modern art from the Collection of Dr Farsi to be exhibited in Doha, prior to their sale at auction in Dubai this October.

The oil on panel, painted in 1929, is estimated at $200,000-300,000.
Born to an aristocratic Alexandrian family, son of Egypt’s prime minister and uncle to Queen Farida, Mahmoud Said trained as a lawyer, working reluctantly in that profession before devoting himself fully to his art in 1947.

The painting depicts six Mawlawi dervishes, each identically clad and with similar features but subtly different postures, they perform a Sema dance around the circular stage of an Ottoman-era Semahane (ritual hall).

The exhibition will be open to the public on October 4 from 2pm to 10pm and October 5 from noon to 8pm.