NICOSIA – A rare work by the late Cypriot artist Pol Georghiou, who was self-taught and never took a lesson, sold for 100,000 euros ($104,908) at the Cypria auction in the capital Nicosia, more than twice is previous sale of 42,000 euros ($44,060.)
It was Quartier Reserve, the sale setting a record for his paintings, said PhileNews, although the buyer’s name wasn’t given.
The 1953 painting shows a scene from ordinary life within the walled old city of Famagusta with a Turkish flag flying in the center, which was unusual on the island at that time among artists works.
Ritsa Kyriacou, Cypria’s Managing Director, said that, “The sale of this exceptionally rare and important painting was a key moment in the artist’s market. Pol Georghiou needs little introduction as one of the significant artists who captured the soul of the early to mid-20th-Century Cyprus, and this record sale of Quartier Reserve reflects how relevant the painting remains 75 years later.”