DUBAI // Proceeds from the sale of a painting by a prominent Libyan artist will help refugees from the Syrian war.
The Sixth Ode by Ali Ermes is a depiction of a poem from the Muallaqat Al Sabaa, a collection of seven pre-Islamic Arabic poems.
The artwork is estimated to be worth between US$120,000 (Dh440,784) and $180,000, Christie’s auction house said.
Christie’s said the painting was expected to fetch the highest price in its sale of modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish art next month in Dubai.
Ermes gave his piece to Philanthropy Age, a quarterly magazine published in the UAE, to be sold for charity.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would receive half of the proceeds.