Christie's opens its auction house in Dubai

 By organizing its 85nd season of auctions in Dubai, Christie's is emphasizing its continued support for the region's art auction market that it laid its foundations twelve years ago. Last year Christie's moved the October auction season from Dubai to London with the aim of bringing Middle Eastern art to a larger segment of art collectors and art connoisseurs from around the world. Sales ratios of XNUMX percent confirmed the great success of this step.

David Earl Snowdon, Honorary President of Christie’s Europe and the Middle East, said: “Christie’s continues its presence and activity in the Middle East with two important auctions, the Contemporary Art Sale and the Watch Auction, which are held in conjunction with Art Dubai. This year's watch auction will have the highest value ever since the launch of this category of auctions in the region. Since last October's auction in London, artworks from the region have attracted significant interest from a wider range of art collectors from around the world. The opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and the region’s recent acquisition of the artistic icon “Salvator Mundi” by artist Leonardo da Vinci, is another indication of the importance and great development of the cultural and artistic scene in the region.

Michael Geha has led Christie's business in the region since opening its Dubai office in 2005, helping to develop new auction concepts including Christie's Education; He has also contributed to raising more than $20 million for charitable purposes. In addition to the great successes witnessed by the house's auctions, this period also witnessed a remarkable prosperity in the art scene with the emergence of many art galleries that played a major role in developing artistic talent and supporting collectors. The seasons of multiple auctions, the opening of museums and various art organizations, as well as art collectors, have played an important and pivotal role in the development of the distinctive art scene in the country.

Over the course of her career that spanned more than 10 years, Hala Al-Khayat has contributed to the evaluation of more than 2.8 artworks, more than half of which were offered for sale during the house’s auctions, and witnessed the highest number of artwork sold from the Middle East when a painting was sold. (The Wall) by Pervez Tanavoli for US$XNUMX million, in addition to overseeing the sale of the first and only private art collection from the Middle East, which was completely sold out.

From now on, Michael Geha and Hala Al-Khayat will develop two important directions: the need for research and reference materials on artists from the Middle East, including books and catalogs, to help document works and verify artist ownership, which helps increase and enhance levels of trust in the market. The second trend is to work on increasing the quality of contemporary artworks available for sale at auctions, in order to achieve the factor of diversity and support for the artistic market for these works.

The Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art Auction, which will be held on the evening of March 22nd, will include 79 distinguished artworks by artists from Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan. The Important Watches Auction, which takes place on the evening of March 23rd and presents this season with 219 rare watches, has been attracting new collectors since its launch in October 2013. This category is witnessing a great demand for unique and rare watches, as well as a noticeable interest in women's watches.