Christie's held its first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, marking 20 years since the auction house's first sale in the United Arab Emirates. Titled MAWASIM: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, the event brought together works by artists from the Middle East and North Africa and generated $8.94 million.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian's Variations on the Hexagon (2006) led the sale, fetching $844,800--well above its estimate of $150,000 to $250,000. Fahrelnissa Zeid's Composition (1948-49) sold for $524,800, while Faisel Laibi Sahi's Baghdad Café (The Coffee Shop) (2016) and Ali Banisadr's Homo Deus (2018) each brought in $512,000.
The auction also set records for nine artists, including Jellal Ben Abdallah, Paul Guiragossian, Samia Halaby and Afra Al Dhaheri. Guiragossian's Noces (Wedding) (1958-59) sold for $486,400, close to its $500,000 high estimate.
Christie's reported that more than 30 percent of registrants were millennials or Gen Z, while 37 percent were new to the auction house. The results point to growing participation from younger collectors and broad interest in modern and contemporary art from the region. That momentum could help expand the reach of Middle Eastern and North African artists in the global art market.
