Christie’s debuts in Abu Dhabi with $130m art display and auction on November 1

Abu Dhabi will host its first Christie’s fine art auction on November 1, with a free public exhibition of more than $130 million (Dh477.42 million) worth of artworks opening at The Abu Dhabi EDITION hotel on Al Bateen Marina from October 28.

Dr Ridha Moumni, chairman of Christie’s Middle East and Africa, described the event as “probably the most important event of modern and contemporary Eastern art for many years.”

Capital’s packed arts season

The auction falls within a concentrated period for the emirate’s cultural calendar. Frieze Abu Dhabi, the inaugural edition of the international art fair, runs from 19 to 22 November at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open on 11 December on Saadiyat Island, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi announced earlier.

“The moment in Abu Dhabi is very important. We will have the first edition of Frieze Abu Dhabi in a few weeks. We will have the opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi this year,” Moumni said.

Christie’s also marks two decades since its first UAE sale in Dubai in 2006 with the auction titled “Mawasim: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art.” Mawasim means “seasons” in Arabic. The live sale begins at 5pm on 1 November.

Global masters and Arab highlights

Alongside the Mawasim lots, Christie’s is displaying three major works from its upcoming New York 20/21 sales, scheduled for the third week of November. Together, the works on view in Abu Dhabi exceed $130 million in total value. The New York pieces will be auctioned in New York, not Abu Dhabi.

The top lot is Wassily Kandinsky’s “Betonten Ecken” (1923), a 130 by 130 cm oil on canvas estimated at $60 million to $80 million. Painted in Weimar between December 1922 and January 1923, the work was formerly in the Guggenheim Museum collection and was exhibited at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam in 2025. Paige Kestenman, co-head of Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale, said the painting would “deservedly set a new auction record for Kandinsky” when it is auctioned in November.

Also on display are Mark Rothko’s “Untitled” (1968), an acrylic on watercolour paper mounted on linen valued at $10 million to $15 million, and Pablo Picasso’s “Tête de femme” (1939), a portrait of his muse Dora Maar estimated at $12 million to $18 million.

The Mawasim auction offers 70 works by artists from across the Middle East and North Africa, spanning nine decades. Consignments come from the Dalloul Collection and the Barjeel Art Foundation.

Highlights include works by Fahrelnissa Zeid, the Turkish-born artist and princess known for early abstraction, and Palestinian-American painter Samia Halaby. “Her commitment to abstraction since the sixties to today where she’s still active has been absolutely incomparable,” Moumni told Khaleej Times. Works by Syrian-German artist Marwan and Lebanese painter Nabil Nahas are also among the lots.

A 1966 self-portrait by Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour is valued at $100,000 to $150,000, consigned from the Dalloul Collection in Beirut. The piece carries added significance following Mansour’s death in August 2026. Saudi artist Abdul Halim Radwi’s “Afaq Halima (Space)” (1989) is estimated at $250,000 to $350,000. Sudanese artist Ibrahim el-Salahi’s “Meditation Tree 6” (2026), a large-scale sculpture from his Salahi’s Forest series created for Desert X AlUla 2026, is valued at $150,000 to $200,000.

Growing collector base

“The UAE is the country where we have the biggest number of bidders in our auction. In terms of concentration, the UAE is the land of collectors of modern and contemporary art,” Moumni said.

Young Emirati collectors are increasingly active, he added, partly driven by a desire to support local artists and by growing exposure to new museums and international fairs. International demand is also rising, led initially by the Arab diaspora and increasingly by buyers in Europe, Asia and the United States. Entry-level lots in the Mawasim sale start at $8,000.

The exhibition and auction are presented in partnership with Abu Dhabi Investment Office and supported by Kering, The Abu Dhabi EDITION and DIETL by Rock-It.

The free public exhibition runs from 28 October to 1 November at The Abu Dhabi EDITION, Al Bateen Marina, Abu Dhabi. The live auction starts at 5pm on 1 November.