Christie’s auction in Abu Dhabi raises $8.94 million — The National
Christie’s first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi, UAE, raised $8.94 million. According to the auction house, the sale also set nine auction records. As The National reports, the Mawasim: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale took place at The Abu Dhabi Edition hotel. It was Christie’s highest result for an evening sale of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art in more than a decade.
Most expensive lots
The most expensive work was Variations on the Hexagon by Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, created in 2006. After nearly seven minutes of bidding, it sold for $844,800, against a pre-sale estimate of $150,000–$250,000.
Composition by Turkish artist Fahrelnissa Zeid, dated 1948–1949, sold for $524,800. Baghdad Cafe (The Coffee Shop) by Iraqi artist Faisel Laibi Sahi and Homo Deus by Iranian artist Ali Banisadr sold for $512,000 each.
Noces (Wedding) by Armenian-Lebanese painter Paul Guiragossian, Portrait de Princesse Fadia by Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said, and Endless Thoughts by Fahrelnissa Zeid each cost buyers $486,400.
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Participants and records
The auction featured 70 lots by 58 artists from 13 countries. The sale was timed to mark the 20th anniversary of Christie’s first auction in the UAE, which took place in Dubai in 2006.
Among the ten most expensive lots were Yesterday by Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, sold for $358,400; Babel Tower by Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki, for $281,600; and Untitled by Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri, for $230,400. Christie’s reported nine records, including for individual artistic media of works by Guiragossian and Halaby.
Emirati artists Rami Farouk, Fatma Lootah and Afra Al Dhaheri, as well as Lebanese artist Nabil Kanso, made their Christie’s auction debuts. According to the auction house, more than 30% of registered bidders were millennials or members of Generation Z, while 37% were new Christie’s clients.
