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The Blacks', an abstract geometric painting by Moroccan artist Mohamed Melehi, saw a full 30 bids and eventually sold for £399,000 ($494,147) in Sotheby’s London online sale of 20th Century Middle Eastern Art.
Recently converted from a live to an online-only auction, Sotheby’s sale of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art totalled £2,193,625, Sotheby's said in a release.
The auction was led by Morocco’s modernist master Mohamed Melehi, as 'The Blacks', a radical work from 1963 inspired by the iconic cityscape of New York but imbued with the cultural richness of Morocco soared to £399,000 / $487,339, nearly seven times its estimate – after 30 bids were placed on the piece.
In its auction debut, the painting achieved a record for the artist, at more than double the previous benchmark price set in 2018.
Auction records also tumbled elsewhere in the sale, including for Moroccan artist Farid Belkahia, whose 'Jerusalem' more than doubled its estimate to bring £200,000.
Sotheby’s is an international auction house with a global network of 80 offices in 40 countries.
