On 9 November, Christie’s achieved a combined total of £5,127,902 across two live auctions in London, celebrating the rich and diverse landscape of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art. This season’s remarkable results underline the ever-evolving and vibrant Arab art market, as well as Christie’s commitment to promoting the continued growth of this market and showcasing the best of Middle Eastern art on the international stage.

Forty-eight masterpieces from the Dalloul Art Collection achieved a total of £3,064,320, with excellent sell-through rates of 99% by value and 96% by lot. The sale was led by Mahmoud Said’s Fille à l’imprimé (Girl in a printed dress) which realised £567,000. Competitive bidding was seen for two works by the leading female artist Samia Halaby, with Return (no. 323) selling for £233,100 and Green and Earth achieving £107,100 against a pre-sale high estimate of £60,000. The sale also achieved three world records, including an artist record for Kamal Boullata with Nocturne II at £47,880 and two records for works on paper — Marwan’s Kopf links gedreht (head turned left), which sold for £56,700, and Faeq Hassan’s Fishermen, which realised £47,880. The success of the sale further highlights the Dalloul Collection as one of the most outstanding privately owned collections of Arab art in the Middle East.

The fantastic results continued with our biannual auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, which totalled £2,073,582, selling 91% by lot and 95% by value. The sale was led by Etel Adnan’s Untitled which sold for £214,200. Other highlights included Mahmoud Sabri’s Rural family, which realised £151,200, Paul Guiragossian’s Chuchotement (Whispers) at £119,700, and Nabil Nahas’s Orion at £113,400.