Christie’s historic inaugural fine art auction in Abu Dhabi has successfully concluded, generating a stellar $8.94 million. This milestone marks the auction house’s strongest evening sale for modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art in over a decade, underscoring the region’s growing prominence in the global art market.
Titled “MAWASIM: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art,” the landmark sale featured an impressive selection of 70 lots by 58 artists representing 13 countries. The event also served as a celebration of two decades since Christie’s first-ever auction in the UAE, which was held in Dubai in 2006.
The vibrant bidding session highlighted a significant shift in collector demographics, with millennials and Gen Z artists and collectors accounting for more than 30 percent of the event’s registered participants.
The highest price of the evening was achieved by Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, whose celebrated 2006 work “Variations on the Hexagon” sold for $844,800. This final price stood at more than three times the artwork’s upper estimate of $250,000, following nearly seven minutes of intense, competitive bidding.
Other notable highlights of the auction included Turkish artist Fahrelnissa Zeid’s “Composition” (1948–1949), which fetched $524,800. Meanwhile, Iraqi artist Faisel Laibi Sahi’s “Baghdad Cafe (The Coffee Shop)” (2016) and Iranian artist Ali Banisadr’s “Homo Deus” (2018) each achieved a solid $512,000.
Three works on the evening’s roster reached $486,400: Armenian-Lebanese painter Paul Guiragossian’s “Noces (Wedding)” (1958–1959), Egyptian artist Mahmoud Said’s “Portrait de Princesse Fadia” (1952), and Zeid’s “Endless Thoughts,” dating to the 1970s.
Further strong results saw Palestinian artist Samia Halaby’s “Yesterday” (1978) sell for $358,400, while Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki’s “Babel Tower” (2012) achieved $281,600. Iranian artist Farhad Moshiri’s “Untitled” (2003) successfully rounded out the top ten highest-selling works, fetching $230,400.