Christie’s first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi realized $8,940,800 on Sunday, the auction house said, the highest total for one of its Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art evening sales in more than ten years.
The sale, titled MAWASIM: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, was held at The Abu Dhabi EDITION hotel on November 1. It marked 20 years since Christie’s held its first auction in the UAE.
Nine auction records were set, Christie’s said. They included records for Paul Guiragossian, Samia Halaby, Faisel Laibi Sahi and Juliana Seraphim, as well as first auction appearances for Emirati artists Fatma Lootah and Afra Al Dhaheri.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s Variations on the Hexagon, from 2006, was the top lot. It sold for $844,800 after almost seven minutes of bidding, against a presale estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.
Fahrelnissa Zeid’s Composition, from 1948 to 1949, fetched $524,800. Faisel Laibi Sahi’s Baghdad Café (The Coffee Shop) and Ali Banisadr’s Homo Deus each sold for $512,000.
More than 30% of registered bidders were millennials or members of Gen Z, and 37% were new to Christie’s, the company said. Works came from collections including the Dalloul Collection in Beirut and the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah.
“Two decades on from our first auction in the UAE, it’s thrilling to have held the first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi,” said Anthea Peers, President of Christie’s for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Christie’s staged the exhibition and sale in a strategic partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, the government body that promotes investment in the emirate. Ahead of the sale, the auction house had shown works valued at more than $130 million in Abu Dhabi.
