Sotheby's to Host Fine Art Exhibition in Abu Dhabi
A landmark Sotheby’s exhibition brings rare masterworks to Abu Dhabi for the first time
Sotheby’s is set to host its landmark fine art exhibition in Abu Dhabi on 1–2 October at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, marking its first public display of fine art in the Emirate.
The event is billed as the most valuable exhibition ever staged by Sotheby’s in the region, with the works on view estimated at around USD 150 million.
The exhibition will present masterpieces from six renowned artists, including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, René Magritte, and Camille Pissarro.
Many of these pieces hail from private collections and are being shown in the Middle East region for the first time; three of them have not been publicly exhibited in over fifty years.
Key works on display include van Gogh’s Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes) (1887), Pissarro’s Bords de l’Oise à Pontoise (1872), and Gauguin’s La Maison de Pen du, gardeuse de vache (1889).
From the collection of Leonard A. Lauder comes Munch’s Sankthansnatt Johannisnacht (c. 1901–03), while Magritte’s Le Jockey perdu (1942) is lent by the Bucksbaum collection. The Frida Kahlo painting El sueño (La cama) (1940), which may set a new auction record for the artist, and possibly for works by women, will also be included.
Katia Nounou Boueiz, Head of Sotheby’s UAE & Deputy Chairman, Middle East, emphasised that this show is a milestone: the first fine art exhibition by Sotheby’s in Abu Dhabi and the most ambitious in scale and value for the region.
She extended an invitation to collectors, art lovers, and the public to experience these historically significant works in Abu Dhabi.
After the exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the works will travel to London and Paris before culminating in Sotheby’s November auction week in New York, held at its new Breuer Building on Madison Avenue.
Concurrently, Sotheby’s Dubai gallery will feature highlights from upcoming London sales—Modern and Contemporary Middle East and Arts from the Islamic World and India—including works by Fahrelnissa Zeid and Inji Efflatoun. The Dubai exhibition runs from 29 September to 3 October.