Christie’s celebrated its tenth sale season in Dubai with auctions of Middle Eastern art and Jewellery totaling $ 11,905,925/ AED43,722,481. In the sale of Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art on Tuesday (19 April), 42 world auction records were set and five of the top ten lots were works of contemporary art, a clear sign of the developing taste among collectors for these more challenging works.
Michael Jeha, Managing Director of Christie’s Middle East, commented: “We chose to follow a slightly different course in the make-up of this, our tenth sale season, by focusing on stellar contemporary works as much as on the remaining modern masterpieces. With 5 of these works making it into the top ten, it is clear that this is exactly what collectors are looking for. The solid results for both the art and the jewellery sales are an indication that the art market in the Middle East continues to mature and attract an increasingly international and local following. Perhaps the most encouraging sign that this market and the interest in it continues to grow, was the many new faces we saw at our pre-sale exhibition and for the auctions themselves. We will build on the success of this week as we look forward to our next sale season in October and to our busy schedule of events around the region between now and then.”
Season highlights:
- A group of 6 works by Saudi Arabian Contemporary artists sold for $1 million to benefit the Edge of Arabia’s education programme
- One of the largest natural salt water pearls ever recorded, weighing just under 60 carats, sold for $254,500/ AED934,779
- 42 new world auction records broken adding to the 318 set since the first Christie’s sale in 2006
- 66 lots offered in the Middle Eastern art sale sold above high estimate
- Increase in international participation in the sale – rising to 45% up from 40% in 2010 –
a sign of continued international interest in this marketplace
- Most significant buyers, making up 55% of the successful bidders, are from the Middle East
- Christies LIVE (online buying) accounted for 20% of bidding
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About Christie’s
Christie’s, the world's leading art business had global auction and private sales in 2010 that totaled £3.3 billion/$5.0 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and expertise, as well as international glamour. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers over 450 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has 53 offices in 32 countries and 10 salerooms around the world including in London, New York, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Dubai and Hong Kong. More recently, Christie’s has led the market with expanded initiatives in emerging and new markets such as Russia, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Mumbai and Dubai.
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Visit Christie’s Website at www.christies.com
About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019).
Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.
Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.
Browse, bid, discover, and join us for the best of art and luxury at: www.christies.com or by downloading Christie’s apps. The COVID-related re-opening status of our global locations is available here.