Today's Orientalist Sale at Sotheby's in London brought a total of £6,339,500 (US$9,679,149), well in excess of the pre-sale high estimate (£2.6-3.8 million). The top lot was Ludwig Deutsch's 'The Offering', which sold to a private collector for £2,154,500 (US$3,289,491) against a pre-sale estimate of £500,000-700,000. The auction was also highlighted by three 19th century views of Turkey, by Alberto Pasini, Herman Corrodi, and Ippolito Caffi.
The Orientalist Sale is part of Sotheby's Art of the Middle East & Turkey week, which features our biannual Arts of the Islamic World auction which takes place on 24 April.
Commenting on the results of Sotheby's Orientalist Sale, Claude Piening, Sotheby's Head of Orientalist Paintings, said: "Our sale today confirmed the robustness of the Orientalist market, with top quality works attracting international interest and commanding extremely strong prices. Ludwig Deutsch's 'The Offering' is one of the finest works by the artist to come to the market and achieved a new world record price for Deutsch at auction. Other records were established, including for Corrodi, Weisse, and Bretegnier."
Three out of the top five prices were for Turkish views. Oya Delahaye, Head of Sotheby's Turkey, said: "We were delighted with these results which are very telling about the strength of this particular market for works of the highest quality. Turkish collectors are currently active across an ever-wider range of collecting categories, among which Orientalist paintings feature large."
A further selection of views of Turkey will be offered as part of Sotheby's London sale of 19th Century European Paintings on 23 May 2013.