Christie's will stage its first stand-alone fine art auction in Abu Dhabi on November 1, held at the Abu Dhabi Edition hotel under the title "Mawasim: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art." The sale marks two decades since the auction house's first UAE sale in 2006 and brings together more than 70 works spanning six decades of regional art.
Among the headline lots is Fahrelnissa Zeid's "Composition" (1948-1949), an abstract work of interlocking colour fields once displayed at the Iraqi Embassy in London, carrying an estimate of $500,000 to $700,000. Egyptian painter Mahmoud Said's royal portrait "Portrait de Princesse Fadia" (1952), completed just months before the fall of Egypt's monarchy, is estimated at $400,000 to $600,000.
Also on offer is Paul Guiragossian's nearly 2.4-metre-wide "Noces/Wedding" (1958-1959), depicting a wedding celebration with musicians and dancers, estimated between $300,000 and $500,000. Saudi artist Ahmed Mater's large-scale photograph "Golden Hour" (2011), from his "Desert of Pharan" series documenting the transformation of Makkah, carries an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000, while Hassan Sharif's satirical "Press Conference No 2" (2008) is estimated at $50,000 to $70,000.
The auction underscores Abu Dhabi's growing standing as a hub for Middle Eastern art collecting, drawing collectors and enthusiasts from across the region to the emirate ahead of the November sale.