ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)

Christie’s will hold its first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi on November 1, marking 20 years since the international auction house held its inaugural sale in the UAE.

The live auction, titled “MAWASIM: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art”, will take place at The Abu Dhabi EDITION, Christie’s said in a statement.

A pre-sale exhibition and related programme will run from October 28 to November 1 at the same venue. The Abu Dhabi Edition is a luxury hotel at Al Bateen Marina in Abu Dhabi, on the waterfront in the Al Bateen area.

The auction will feature more than 70 works spanning over six decades of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East and North Africa. The selection includes works from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, Syria, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

Works from the Dalloul Collection in Beirut and the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah will also be included in the sale, the statement said.

Artists represented in the auction include Paul Guiragossian, Samia Halaby, Mohamed Melehi, Nadia Saikali, Marwan Kassab-Bachi, Inji Efflatoun and Nabil Nahas.

Among the highlighted works is Guiragossian’s Noces (Wedding) from 1958-1959, estimated at $300,000-$500,000. Halaby’s Yesterday is estimated at $200,000-$300,000, while Melehi’s A30 carries an estimate of $100,000-$150,000.

Other highlights include Marwan Kassab-Bachi’s Kopf (Head), estimated at $200,000-$300,000, and Nabil Nahas’s Inka Dinka Doo, estimated at $300,000-$400,000.

Christie’s said the auction marks two decades since its first UAE sale in Dubai in 2006, when it became the first international auction house to hold a sale in the region. The November event will be its first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Ridha Moumni, Chairman of Christie’s Middle East and Africa, said the sale comes as Abu Dhabi enters “a major new chapter in its cultural landscape”.

“Taking place ahead of the inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi and the opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Christie’s sale contributes to an especially dynamic period in the region’s cultural calendar,” he said, adding that the auction would celebrate the artists and practices that have shaped modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art.

Marie-Claire Thijsen, Head of Sale and Specialist at Christie’s London and Dubai, said the auction would bring together works reflecting the artistic legacy of the Middle East and North Africa across generations and geographies.

She said the selection ranges from the abstraction of Mohamed Melehi and Samia Halaby to the figurative works of Paul Guiragossian and Marwan, describing the presentation in Abu Dhabi as significant as the emirate continues to expand its cultural and artistic ecosystem.

Meagan Kelly Horsman, Managing Director of Christie’s UAE, said the auction also marks 20 years since Christie’s inaugural modern and contemporary art sale in Dubai and reflects the growing international recognition of artists from the Middle East over that period.

The Abu Dhabi programme will include previews, talks and educational events. The auction comes ahead of Frieze Abu Dhabi from November 19 to 22 and the opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi on December 11, according to the statement.

Ahead of the Abu Dhabi sale, selected works will also be exhibited at Christie’s in New York from September 17-20, Paris from October 2-8 and London from October 8-15.