Sotheby's Holds First Fine Art Auction in Abu Dhabi on December 10
Sotheby's, the international auction house, is holding its first fine art auction in Abu Dhabi on December 10. The sale is called Breaking Ground, and it has 21 confirmed lots with a combined estimate of US$6.54 million to US$9.08 million. An estimate is the auction house's pre-sale price range. The final price depends on what bidders are willing to pay on the day.
The sale will take place at the Saadiyat Grove Experience Center on Saadiyat Island, a cultural district off the coast of Abu Dhabi city. It falls one day before the opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the new branch of the New York museum, according to ArtNews.
Two works are drawing the most attention so far. Andy Warhol's Ads (1985) carries an estimate of US$2 million to US$3 million. It is a late screenprint, a print made by pushing ink through a fine mesh stencil. Claude Monet's Prunes et Abricots (1882-85) is an early still life, a painting of everyday objects such as fruit, and its estimate runs from US$2 million to US$2.6 million.
The sale also includes work by pioneering Emirati artists, placed alongside the Monet and Warhol pieces, The National reported. Sotheby's has added Breaking Ground to its Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week programme, which runs through early December.
That week is busy. The Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the motor race, runs from December 3 to 6. Abu Dhabi Finance Week, a conference for the finance sector, takes place from December 7 to 10, and the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi runs from December 8 to 10. Sotheby's has said it will launch a first series of events in the city during Collectors' Week, and its December programme includes a museum-quality exhibition of fine art.
Collectors' Week also has a separate sale on December 9, covering cars, jewellery, watches, bicycles and handbags. Last year, the car auction house RM Sotheby's ran its first Abu Dhabi Collectors' Week sale. It reported total sales of US$85 million, and a McLaren F1 sold for more than US$25 million, the house said in a press release.
For anyone outside the art world, the sale is a chance to see how a major auction house sets up in a new city. Results from December 10 will show what the 21 lots actually fetch, measured against the estimates. Those final prices will be published by Sotheby's once the sale closes.
