Following a successful $9 million sale of Orientalist Art in New York, Sotheby’s tries to build momentum in London this Friday.

According to their press office, Sotheby’s:

will present an impressive range of Turkish, North African and Middle East-inspired works in its Orientalist Sale on Friday, May 30th, 2008. The sale will present works by many of the leading names in the field, including Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928), Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), Henri Rousseau (1875-1933), Théodore Chassériau (1819-56), Rudolf Ernst (1854-1904) and John Frederick Lewis (1805-76), all of whom were inspired by the khans, souks and bazaars of North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey in the 19th century. The 90 or so works – which include both paintings and sculpture – have a collective pre-sale estimate of £6.2-8.6 million.

The cornerstone of the sale will be a monumental masterpiece by the pre-eminent Turkish artist Osman Hamdy Bey (1842-1910), entitled A Lady of Constantinople, which is estimated at £3-4 million. The monumental piece is also arguably one of the most important works from the Orientalist genre ever to come to the market and it could set a new auction record for a work of this type.