It begins with the launch of the British Museum’s exhibition Inspired by the east: how the Islamic world influenced western art. The show will open on October 10 and runs until January 26, 2020.
Charting the history of cultural and artistic interactions between East and West, it explores the impact the Islamic world has had on Western art. It has been put together in collaboration with the Islamic Arts Museum in Malaysia.
Next up is a new event created by three dealers. Runjeet Singh, Rob Dean Art and Kent Antiques will host Indian & Islamic Week London on October 16-25 in Gallery Eight, Duke Street, St James’s.
Singh said that although he remains heavily involved in Asian Art in London (AAL) which runs from October 31-November 9, he believed there is room for an Islamic and Indian-focused event.
Of the events staged by the largest UK auction houses, Sotheby’s is hosting an exhibition of a 155-strong group called the Najd Collection described as ‘One of the Greatest Collections of Orientalist Paintings Ever Assembled’. The pictures will be on display from October 11 at the Bond Street saleroom – the first time the collection has been seen in public. This is followed by an evening sale of 40 paintings on October 22. A highlight is Jean-Léon Gérôme’s Riders crossing the desert, 1870, estimated at £3m-5m.
Jean-Léon Gérôme’s 'Riders crossing the desert', 1870. It is estimated at £3m-5m at Sotheby’s.Image credit: Sotheby's.
Bonhams also holds a sale on October 22 titled Islamic and Indian Art including Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art.
The auction of manuscripts, works on paper, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and arms and armour from the 7th to the 20th century will include this c.1792 oil on canvas by James Wales (1747-95), inscribed Nur al-din Hussein Khan, the Residency Vakil, Poona. It is estimated at £50,000-70,000.
Bonhams will offer this c.1792 oil on canvas by James Wales (1747-95), inscribed Nur al-din Hussein Khan, the Residency Vakil, Poona. It is estimated at £50,000-70,000 on October 22. Image credit: Bonhams.
The following day, on October 23, Sotheby’s returns with the Shakerine Collection of calligraphy in Qur’ans and other manuscripts and a second auction of Art of the Islamic World. Viewings begin on October 18. Among the lots is a mid-16th century Safavid illuminated Qur’an with an estimate of £200,000-300,000.
Over at Christie’s on October 24, its Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Oriental Rugs and Carpets is followed on October 25 with The Oliver Hoare Collection auction. Read about it here. Among the lots is this 15th century Timurid manuscript by Mawlana Shir Ali which is estimated at £1-1.5m.
A 15th century Timurid manuscript – known as the Jam-I Jam – by Mawlana Shir Ali, with four illustrations by [Kemal al-Din] Bihzad. Estimated at £1-1.5m.
A number of other London auction houses will hold sales to coincide with Islamic Art Week including Bloomsbury’s Works on paper from the Islamic worlds and Roseberys’ Islamic & Indian art, both on October 22. They are followed by Islamic & Indian art at Chiswick Auctions on October 25.
These sales can be viewed on thesaleroom.com.
