{"id":60987,"date":"2025-02-10T14:09:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T10:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?post_type=articles&p=60987"},"modified":"2025-02-10T14:09:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T10:09:58","slug":"sothebys-origins-saudi-arabia-local-artists","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/sothebys-origins-saudi-arabia-local-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions Of Arab Art: Saudi Arabia’s Inaugural Sotheby’s Auction Exceeds $17 Million In Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: @sothebys Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since its announcement in late 2024, the inaugural Sotheby’s auction, Origins, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has pushed significant strides in the country’s art scene.<\/p>\n

The auction, which concluded on February 8, 2025, amounted to an astonishing\u00a0 $17 million (Dhs62 million) in sales across the luxury and fine art categories, with local artists in the limelight and contributing to the success of the first-ever auction.<\/p>\n

The auction took place in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the birthplace of the Saudi state, located near Riyadh. The event showcased a plethora of international artworks but also remarkably spotlighted Arab talents such as Mohammed Al-Saleem, Abdulhalim Radwi, Maha Malluh, and others.<\/p>\n

While international 20th-century figures were auctioned as precious memorabilia, Arab artistic talent was celebrated for its clear distinction in storytelling and finesse and for being pioneers in the region.<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

One such name is Syrian artist Louay Kayyali, whose work “Then What??” which showcases the plight of Palestinian life in the ’40s, was sold for $900,000 (Dhs3 million), exceeding the expected estimates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Championing Saudi artists, Mohammed Al-Saleem\u2019s painting “O’ God, Honor Them and Do Not Honor an Enemy Over Them” also helped push local artistry on the international platform, particularly selling for $600,000 (Dhs2.4 million), which jumped three times more than the pre-sale estimates of just\u00a0 $180,000 (Dhs 600,000), per Arab News<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of course, without settling for any less than that, Palestinian art also took to the front stage. Notably by Palestinian-American artist Samia Halaby, whose “Blue Trap (In A Railroad Station)” painting from the ’70s was sold for $380,000 (Dhs1.4 million).<\/p>\n

Alongside other notable artworks by the region’s best, a total of\u00a0 $1.1 million (Dhs3.6 million) rounded up the GCC’s notoriously prized artworks, concluding the Origins auction as Saudi’s major milestone in the realms of fine art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42726,"featured_media":60989,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[260,36,35,5023,4713],"yoast_head":"\nSaudi Arabia's First Sotheby's Auction Exceeds $17 Million In Sales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Local artists got to be in the limelight and contribute to the success of the first-ever Sotheby's auction in the region.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/sothebys-origins-saudi-arabia-local-artists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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