Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova, AzerNews Staff Writer

Christie's, the world's leading auction house, in cooperation with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and YARAT! Contemporary Art Space staged its first exhibition in Azerbaijan on September 15-16, which was held in the magnificent surroundings of the newly completed Four Seasons Hotel in Baku.

Azerbaijan's First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, and the Foundation's Vice-President Leyla Aliyeva attended the opening ceremony.

Government officials, people of art and about 50 collectors from all over the world visited the exhibition. Famous French actor Gerard Depardieu, who is currently filming in Azerbaijan, also attended the exhibition.

Conduct of the exhibition has been made possible with the organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the largest non-governmental, non-commercial entity in Azerbaijan, which has successfully implemented a broad range of development programs and projects in the fields of culture, education, healthcare, science and social sphere both domestically and abroad.

The Foundation pays particular attention to safeguarding national and spiritual values, broad promotion of Azerbaijani culture, and promoting the international image of the country worldwide.

Prior to the exhibition, a press conference was held on September 14 at the Four Seasons hotel.

Christie's official Andreas Rumbler presented paintings to journalists and noted that each of them is a masterpiece, has its own history and possesses high artistic value.

Rumbler said that the most expensive exhibits are Pablo Picasso's "Femme au chien" and "Portrait du marquis d'Afflito" by Tamara de Lempicka, whose value ranges between five and seven million dollars.

The exhibition featured a diverse range of art and items that have been selected to represent the best of the fall sales held by Christie's in London, New York and Dubai.

This included Impressionist, Post War and Contemporary paintings, Oriental carpets, Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art, works of Ayad Alkadhi, Farhad Moshiri, Shafi Hadi, Ali Banisadr, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Shoja Azari, Shahram Karimi, Andreas Gursky, Ged Quinn and a 18th century Karabakh carpet.

Along with the exhibition, YARAT!, a non-commercial organization, organized a program of exclusive events such as discussions, dinners, a tour of the YARAT! Contemporary Art Space and visits to artist studios in Baku.

Christie's chairman Viscount Linley commented: "Christie's is delighted to have been asked to hold its first preview exhibition in Azerbaijan and we are most grateful to YARAT! and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for their generous support of this event. There is a very strong appreciation for art in Azerbaijan, coupled with an exciting contemporary art scene; we are very excited both to be showcasing international art in Baku in September, and also to have the opportunity to exhibit contemporary Azeri art to an international audience at Christie's in London next year."

The Baku exhibition will be followed in 2013 by an exhibition of Contemporary Azerbaijani Art at Christie's London. This will showcase works by the finest established and emerging artists in Baku who have been cultivated by YARAT! This is all part of the founder of YARAT! Aida Mahmudova's ongoing work to help create a dialogue between Azerbaijani artists and others around the world.

Mahmudova co-hosted the opening of the exhibition with Viscount Linley.

"We are honored to be co-hosting this event with Christie's," Mahmudova said. "In my opinion, it marks a significant chapter in Azerbaijan's journey to becoming represented on the international art market. The Azerbaijani people possess rich cultural heritage as well as fine contemporary artists, and we are keen to promote this message. We are enormously grateful to Christie's for their energy and commitment in making this event happen. As the founder of YARAT!, I believe it is vital that we create as many intercultural bridges as possible, that will help forge a dialogue between our contemporary art community and that of the outside world."

Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's conducted auctions since 18^th century and today it has 53 offices in 32 countries and 10 salerooms around the world, where 450 sales take place annually.

Baku`s YARAT! (Create!) organization aims to create a platform for established as well as emerging artists. The key objectives of future-directed ``YARAT!`` is in forming dialogue, exchanging experience and bridging the gap between different cultures and art institutions.