The historical mud-brick city of Diriyah in Saudi Arabia played host to an unusual crowd on the night of Feb 8: art aficionados, new collectors and first-time paddle holders melding together to take part in Sotheby’s inaugural auction in the kingdom.
The offerings were as diverse as the crowd, with everything from high-end collectible watches to handbags, paintings, jewellery and sports memorabilia on sale to the highest bidder. In the end, it may have been Saudi Arabian businessman Amr Zedan who struck the most luck.
Zedan, who had participated in Sotheby’s auctions on the phone prior to the event, won bids for two pieces, including the oil painting Society Woman by Fernando Botero, for US$1 million ($1.34 million). A new art collector, Zedan said he plans to add the piece to a portfolio started with his wife.
Society Woman was among the top lots of the night, along with work from Banksy that fetched US$1.2 million. In all, the 118 lots of the evening sold for a total of about US$17 million, compared with a pre-sale estimate of US$16 million to US$22 million. That is not a lot of money for a major art auction or in moneyed Saudi Arabia. But Sotheby’s was aiming for a solid, if limited, start for the kingdom to start catching up with regional neighbours.
The United Arab Emirates has been active on the arts scene for years, with the Louvre Abu Dhabi drawing visitors since 2017 and both Sotheby’s and Christie’s operating in Dubai. While its art industry is still developing, Saudi Arabia’s economy is the biggest in the Middle East and its young population of citizens are being encouraged to pursue more creative avenues to help drive non-oil growth.
For Sotheby’s, the event’s stakes were high. The auction house is investing to expand in new countries as it battles a prolonged slump in the art market along with rival Christie’s. Sotheby’s recently sold a minority stake to Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, in part to establish a regional partner to help sharpen its focus on the Middle East, says CEO Charles Stewart.
Holding an auction in Saudi Arabia is part of that strategy. “This is the beginning of a new chapter of focus.”
See also: The third Art SG reflects the rising cachet of Southeast Asian artists and collectors
Before the auction started, attendees and registered bidders expressed deep curiosity about what items would sell best. They noted that prices seemed lower than in auctions in New York and Paris.
“They’re testing the waters,” said Ali Mubarak, who works at a local art house. “It’s hard to know what people want in such a new market.”
The open-air venue, surrounded by palm trees alight in yellow hues and the aroma of cardamom from servings of Arabic coffee, featured 250 seats. Participants came from 45 countries, and about a third of buyers were from Saudi Arabia, according to Sotheby’s. More than 30% were under the age of 40.
The collection put up for sale was broad by design to give Sotheby’s a chance to “see where the real heat is” and showcase the breadth of auction offerings to new audiences, says Stewart.
Heba Alali was one participant who travelled from abroad, driving five hours from Bahrain to Diriyah, located just outside the Saudi capital of Riyadh, to bid for the first time after watching auctions online for years. “I came tonight to finally experience it myself,” says Alali, who was outbid for the Botero painting that was among the night’s top lots. “It’s important to us in the Arab world to see this happening in Saudi Arabia.”
Contemporary competition
The strongest interest was in modern and contemporary art, including paintings, ceramics and pieces from the Islamic world.
For more lifestyle, arts and fashion trends, click here for Options Section
The battle for the opening piece, an oil on canvas painting by late Lebanese artist Huguette Caland, was among the most heated, with bids over the phone, online and in person. It was ultimately sold over the phone. A work on paper creation by Picasso and a light installation piece by James Turrell were also highly competitive. Leading the offering of Saudi art was a painting by Mohammed Al Saleem, which fetched US$660,000, triple the estimate.
As the night moved on to luxury items, including sports memorabilia worn by Cristiano Ronaldo, the first major football star to play in a local Saudi league, the crowd at Diriyah slimmed. Bidding was heavy and quick among online participants but saw limited in-person paddle activity. The Ronaldo items, including four jerseys and signed boots, sold for a total of about US$151,000.
Ahead of the sale, three pieces carried the highest estimates at US$1 million to US$1.5 million: a Fernando Botero sculpture, a René Magritte painting and a Richard Mille timepiece. In the end, Magritte’s L’État de veille painting, signed and dated 1958, fetched US$1.2 million — on par with Banksy’s Subject to Availability, which was created as part of his series of vandalised oil works.
While it wasn’t Botero’s sculpture that ultimately won out, his Society Woman painting earned applause when being won out by a local Saudi bidder. There was competition from three people before Saudi businessman Zedan ultimately secured the prize at what he called a “good deal”.
“We happened to be at the right place at the right time.”
