Turkish auction house presents dozens of modern and contemporary works of art

The 30th Beyaz Contemporary and Modern Art Auction, entitled "Çağdaş Ustalar Geçidi," (Contemporary Masters' Show) will open the 2015 auction season with masterpieces by Turkish and foreign artists at the Zorlu Performing Arts Center on Sunday. As a central figure in the pop art movement, American artist Robert Indiana, whose "Love" and "Hope" prints are commonly seen in front of prestigious buildings in Europe and the U.S., will be among the auction's big names, along with British sculpture Tony Cragg, British visual artist Julian Opie, German artist Zimmermann and Irish painter Marc Francis. Indiana's "Hope" print will be put up for auction for between TL 750,000 ($326,250) and TL 1 million. Cragg's wooden sculptures are predicted to be sold for between TL 450,000 and TL 650,000 apiece. The auction will also introduce works by various Turkish artists, such as early contemporary painters Fahrelnisa Zeid, who successfully mixed Islamic and Byzantine art, and Nejad Devrim and Erol Akyavaş famous for his abstract works. Born into an Ottoman aristocrat family in Istanbul, Zeid married a member of the Iraqi royal family and received the title of "princess." She established an art institute in Amman and her works were exhibited in France and Germany. Contemporary figurative painters including Yüksel Arslan, Mehmet Güleryüz, Alaattin Aksoy and Burhan Uygun will be the auction's other big names. The works of Kezban Arca Batıbeki, frequently mentioned with her latest exhibition "Manzarasız Bir Oda" (A room without a view) at Istanbul74, and young artist Murat Pulat will be on display. Organized by Beyaz Müzayede, a total of 236 works of art by 130 Turkish and foreign artists will be put up for auction.