Works by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Colombian artist and sculptor Fernando Botero are among Sotheby’s inaugural auction in Saudi Arabia, set to take place on February 8.
Tiled Origins, the exhibition will also showcase the works of more than 50 renowned international and regional artists. The free exhibition before the auction will take place in the historic city of Diriyah at Bujairi Terrace and feature up to 100 pieces, including digital art, as well as jewellery, watches, sports memorabilia and handbags.
“Given this is the first auction in Saudi Arabia, we wanted to show what makes Sotheby’s who we are and give a taste of the amazing fields and artists we represent at auction,” Ashkan Baghestani, Sotheby’s head of sale and contemporary art specialist, tells The National. “It was also important to bring new names to Saudi Arabia, many of whom have not been exhibited here before.”
Two works by the influential American pop artist Warhol – Police Car and Space Ship – from his Toy Painting series of the 1980s will go on sale, each estimated between $150,000 and $200,000. A third Warhol item is an edition of his famed Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom portrait, estimated to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000.
The Picasso work is a 1948 pencil-on-paper piece titled Fleurs. Estimated between $50,000 to $70,000, the work shows the Spanish maestro's mastery of line, where organic and vegetal forms that were prevalent in his work at that period, are full of immediacy and dynamism.
Other international artists in the exhibition include the Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte, Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky and Italian artist and writer Giorgio de Chirico.
The regional offering includes works by pioneering Saudi artists Mohammed Al Saleem and Abdulhalim Radwi, Syrian modernist artist Louay Kayali, Lebanese painter and sculptor Huguette Caland and renowned Palestinian-American visual artist Samia Halaby.
“It was very important to us to present an international selection of artworks, not only focusing on Middle Eastern art but also on international names,” Baghestani says. “We wanted to bring a wide range of artists to the doorsteps of our existing client base, but also think about what works might attract the attention of a new set of potential bidders.”
Of the international offerings, two works are estimated to fetch between $1 million and $1.5 million, making them the most expensive of the pieces going to auction.
The first, Magritte’s L'Etat de veille, is a gouache on paper work characteristic of his surrealist style, and is from a series that depicts specific motifs, such as the sky. In this work, a cloud-filled sky covers the facade of a home, challenging our conventional perceptions of reality and creating an enigmatic dream-like image.
The second work is Man on Horse, a bronze sculpture by Botero, known for his style of adding volume and weight to his figures. This particular work depicts a plump man gazing out into the distance as he sits on top of an equally robust horse. The sculpture is a contemporary interpretation, in Botero’s unique style, of the classic equestrian statue, playing on a theme that also has resonance in the region.
Baghestani believes that no market should be restricted to a particular region and that it’s always been important for him to platform Middle Eastern artists in Sotheby’s international sales. Now, he's implementing the reverse in the region.
“That is what we are trying to do here, opening the market to new horizons, conversations and buyers, and introducing artists that we are passionate about to all of the people that we will hopefully meet over the course of the week-long exhibition,” he says.
“By curating the auction this way, we are placing our region’s amazing artists in dialogue and in context with their international peers.”
From the works by regional artists, Kayali’s powerful painting Then What?? is expected to fetch the highest amount and sell between $500,000 to $700,000.
In the work, Kayali depicts 11 figures, nine women and two children, all dressed in black and contrasted against a mustard yellow background. The figures, with their elongated necks, expressive poses and muted expressions, are compositionally arranged in two groups on each side of the frame.
Their poses and gazes lead the eye to various parts of the painting and eventually to the only figure looking directly out at the viewer – a young boy holding a dove that appears to be dead.
The work is emblematical of Kayali’s style and approach to depicting social issues and human struggles through strong figurative pieces.
“The most important work in the sale from the Middle Eastern component is the Louay Kayali, which is one of the most iconic, well documented and best-loved works of modern Arab art,” Baghestani says.
“It is truly extraordinary to have something of this quality by this artist to come to auction, and it can be directly compared to the museum-quality masterpieces that have made records by Mahmoud Said, Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar, Bahman Mohasses and Mahmoud Sabri.”
Baghestani says that it’s exciting to be able to showcase Arab art history to the public in Saudi Arabia, which lends itself to a greater desire regionally to grow the art community in the kingdom. This includes the growing infrastructure for commercial galleries to the opening of new museums such as the Digital Art Museum in Riyadh.
“There is so much more to come too, and our auction is also a landmark moment in history,” Baghestani says. “Together, this sets the foundation for what is going to become one of the most exciting destinations for art in the world – with the institutional world and commercial world working hand in hand.”
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Visa changes give families fresh hope
Foreign workers can sponsor family members based solely on their income
Male residents employed in the UAE can sponsor immediate family members, such as wife and children, subject to conditions that include a minimum salary of Dh 4,000 or Dh 3,000 plus accommodation.
Attested original marriage certificate, birth certificate of the child, ejari or rental contract, labour contract, salary certificate must be submitted to the government authorised typing centre to complete the sponsorship process
In Abu Dhabi, a woman can sponsor her husband and children if she holds a residence permit stating she is an engineer, teacher, doctor, nurse or any profession related to the medical sector and her monthly salary is at least Dh 10,000 or Dh 8,000 plus accommodation.
In Dubai, if a woman is not employed in the above categories she can get approval to sponsor her family if her monthly salary is more than Dh 10,000 and with a special permission from the Department of Naturalization and Residency Dubai.
To sponsor parents, a worker should earn Dh20,000 or Dh19,000 a month, plus a two-bedroom accommodation
HOW TO WATCH
Facebook: TheNationalNews
Twitter: @thenationalnews
Instagram: @thenationalnews.com
TikTok: @thenationalnews
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
more from Janine di Giovanni
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
RESULT
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 0 Al Ain 6
Al Ain: Caio (5', 73'), El Shahat (10'), Berg (65'), Khalil (83'), Al Ahbabi (90' 2)
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five pillars of Islam
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
