London - Calling the Faithful by the Austrian artist Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935) was the top selling work at Bonhams Orientalist Art sale in London on Wednesday 20 October. Estimated at £300,000-500,000, it sold for £742,750. In total, the sale made £2 million with 73% sold by lot and 88% sold by value.

Curator of the Orientalist Art sale, Peter Rees, said: "Today's exceptional result shows why Ludwig Deutsch is regarded as one of the leading painters of Orientalist Art. His meticulously painted images of North Africa had enormous appeal during his lifetime and continue to resonate with collectors today."

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Marketplace at the Entrance to a Bazaar, Constantinople by the Italian painter Alberto Pasini (1826-1899). Pasini is among the finest Italian Orientalist painters, skilfully capturing the architecture, colours and atmosphere of North African and Asia Minor. Born in Parma and educated at the city's Accademia di Belle Arti, he moved to Paris in 1851. Pasini would either paint from memory or elaborate on the wealth of drawings and notes that he rapidly executed on site during his travels. Orientalist compositions formed the bulk of his work from the late 1870s to the mid-1880s. Estimate: £120,000-180,000. Sold for £150,250

• A Negotiation by Adam Styka (1890-1959). Son of a prominent Polish painter, Styka made an immediate impression with his first exhibition in 1913 of paintings of North African subjects, specifically of Algerian and Tunisian sun-drenched people and landscapes. They caused such as sensation that he was instantly proclaimed as the 'Painter of the Sun'. A Negotiation epitomises. Styka's Orientalist works. Estimate: £40,000-60,000. Sold for £137,750.

20 October 2021