Two works by Maliheh Afnan that were offered together and made £4800 at Dawsons.
Offered as a single lot, both were relatively late pictures by the Palestinian artist, who was born in Haifa to Iranian parents. They demonstrated her keen interest in calligraphy.
One was titled My Kite, a 7 x 8¾in (18 x 23cm), work on paper that was signed and dated 99 to the lower right.
The other was titled Tablet V and dated from 2000. Measuring 6in (16cm) square, it was formed of plaster of Paris and a water-based paint.
While not many of her works have ever appeared at auctions in the West, a large oil painting Lady with a Hat from 1961 established a benchmark for the artist when it sold for £50,000 at Sotheby’s in London in 2016.
Although these small compositions were a rather different proposition in terms of style, subject and size, they nevertheless found appeal at the Berkshire sale against the ‘there-to-besold’ estimate.
Bringing good competition at the sale on April 27, they were eventually knocked down at £4800 to an online buyer
