Christie's Brings $130M Art Auction To Abu Dhabi For The First Time

Abu Dhabi is hosting its first Christie's fine art auction on November 1, with artworks valued at more than $130 million (Dh477.42 million approximately) on free public display at The Abu Dhabi EDITION hotel on Al Bateen Marina from October 28.

"This is probably the most important event of modern and contemporary Eastern art for many years," Dr Ridha Moumni, chairman of Christie's Middle East and Africa, told Khaleej Times.

The auction arrives as the capital enters a concentrated arts season. Frieze Abu Dhabi, the inaugural edition of the international art fair, takes place during November 19-22 at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is confirmed to open on December 11 on Saadiyat Island, following an announcement by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi.

"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.

Mawasim, meaning "seasons" in Arabic, marks two decades since Christie's staged its first UAE sale in Dubai in 2006. The sale, titled Mawasim: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, goes live at 5pm on November 1.

Alongside the Mawasim auction, Christie's is displaying three major works from its forthcoming New York 20/21 sales, scheduled for the third week of November. Together with the Mawasim lots, they push the total value of works on view in Abu Dhabi beyond $130 million. The New York works are on view here but will go under the hammer in New York.

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

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

The Mawasim auction brings together 70 works by artists from across the Middle East and North Africa, spanning nine decades of practice. Consignments include pieces from the Dalloul Collection and the Barjeel Art Foundation.

Highlights include works by Fahrelnissa Zeid, the Turkish-born artist and princess known for her early experiments in 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 estimated at $100,000 to $150,000, consigned from the Dalloul Collection in Beirut. The lot 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, and 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 estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.

"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 told Khaleej Times.

Young Emirati collectors are increasingly active in the market, he added, driven in part by a desire to support local artists and by growing exposure through new museums and international fairs. Demand is also growing internationally, led initially by the Arab diaspora and increasingly by buyers in Europe, Asia and the United States. Entry-level lots in the Mawasim sale begin 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 public exhibition is free and runs October 28 to November 1 at The Abu Dhabi EDITION, Al Bateen Marina, Abu Dhabi. The live auction begins at 5pm on November 1.

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