Records set for Arab artists at Sotheby’s debut Saudi Arabia auction

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Art Newspaper, an editorial partner of CNN Style.

Sotheby’s inaugural auction in Saudi Arabia — and the country’s first major international art and luxury auction — took place in Diriyah on Saturday with works by regional artists selling particularly well.

Sotheby’s reported a full house for the “Origins” sale, which was held in a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater and featured participants from 45 countries. The sale totaled $17.28m with a sell-through rate of 67% by lot and 74% by value. Almost a third of the buyers were from Saudi Arabia.

The auction offered an eclectic mix of around 120 objects. Approximately half were works of art and a quarter watches and jewelry, while there were also 17 designer handbags and several items of sports memorabilia.

“Prior to the evening, nearly everyone believed the luxury segment would outperform the art on offer. To everyone’s surprise fine art achieved very solid results, indicating a strong appetite for Saudi and Arab art,” says Rebecca Anne Proctor, the author of the book “Art in Saudi Arabia: A New Creative Economy?” who attended the sale.

“While there were some beautiful pieces from the luxury segment, the sales were astonishingly few for a market that so prizes luxury.”

All four works by Saudi Arabian artists in the auction sold for above estimate and Samia Halaby’s Blue Trap (in a Railroad Station) (1977) realized $384,000, almost double its high estimate.

“The results that we have achieved here during our inaugural sale is a clear signal of the depth of appetite that exists for art, and the thirst that is ready to be unlocked, of which tonight was a successful next step,” said Ashkan Baghestani, a Sotheby’s head of sale for fine art, in a statement.

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