Sotheby’s first-ever auction in Saudi Arabia saw strong sales, bringing in over USD 17 million, with over a third of lots sold to buyers within the Kingdom.
The international auction was held in Diriyah, Riyadh, following the November announcement of the event, as well as the opening of Sotheby’s office in the city.
Three lots by Magritte, Botero, and Banksy saw figures of over USD 1 million while all four works by Saudi artists exceeded their estimates. Mohammed Al Saleem’s painting, O’ God, Honor Them and Do Not Honor an Enemy Over Them (1977) tripled its estimate and going for USD 660,000, Ahmed Mater’s Illumination Diptych (Makkiah Tale) (2012) sold for USD 102,000 and Maha Malluh’s sculpture Magadeer (from Food for Thought) (2024) sold at USD 84,000. Abdulhalim Radwi’s untitled work from 1984, set a record for the artist’s work at USD 264,000.
Pioneer of Modern Arab Art Louay Kayyali also set a record with Then What?? (1965) going for USD 900,000. Other notable sales include Samia Halaby’s Blue Trap (in a Railroad Station) (1977) at USD 384,000, an untitled 1982 work from Aref El Rayess’s Deserts Series realised USD 108,000, and one of Saloua Raouda Choucair’s only wooden sculptures to appear on the market, Secret of the Cube (1977), sold for USD 144,000.
Amongst the international art sales was James Turrell’s light installation The Light Underneath (2006), which went for USD 660,000, and the artist also recently unveiled plans for an installation in AlUla. Pablo Picasso’s work on paper entitled Fleurs (1948) went for USD 204,000, more than three times its estimate. Refik Anadol’s Machine Hallucinations – Space | Chapter II: Mars (Generative AI Data Painting) (2021) went for USD 900,000 and was acquired by Bity Foundation, while Banksy’s oil and spray paint on canvas, Subject to Availability (2011) sold for USD 1.2 million and René Magritte’s gouache on paper, L’ État de veille (1958), featuring the Surrealist’s iconic clouded blue sky, also sold for USD 1.2 million.
