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Sotheby’s Inaugural Auction in Diriyah Achieves $17M
With three lots surpassing $1 million, Origins saw bidders from 45 different countries – and almost a third of buyers from Saudia Arabia.
A monumental event requires a monumental setting. So, when Sotheby’s presented Origins, a 140-lot gala auction encompassing the best in fine art and luxury on February 8, a starlit 250-seat amphitheatre in Diriyah, Riyadh more than fit the occasion. And the standing-room-only audience responded to the array of objects with breathtaking energy, driving the bidding to an impressive $17.3 million result, signalling a new era for the 280-year auction house as it launches its newest offices in the thriving capital city of Riyadh.
Photos from Sotheby’s Diriyah Debut
Fine Art Sets a High Bar
The auction was divided into two sections. The first, helmed by Sotheby’s Chief Auctioneer Oliver Barker, consisted of a selection of global and regional fine art from renowned Arab and Iranian artists past and present. Defying presale estimates and capturing the imagination of the room, the quality and range of art on offer performed magnificently, setting a couple of new records along the way and affirming the passionate energy present in the Saudi Arabian art market.
A dynamic curation of Western artists – including René Magritte ($1.2 million), Banksy ($1.2 million), Fernando Botero ($1 million), James Turrell ($660,000) and Pablo Picasso ($204,000) – landed strongly within the room. Turrell’s mesmerising installation The Light Underneath instigated one of the evening’s most heated contests, with seven potential new owners driving bidding to a final sale, while notorious British provocateur Banksy saw his Subject to Availability from the ‘vandalised oils’ series, sell for $1.2 million. Another contemporary superstar, Refik Anadol’s Machine Hallucinations – Space, inspired by a collaboration with NASA, sold for $900,000 to the newly launched Bity Foundation.
The sale also took in some of the most important Middle Eastern artists of the past century. One such figure was the Syrian painter Louay Kayyali, represented in Origins with Then What ?? (1965). This spellbinding piece sensationally set a record for Kayyali, selling for $900,000. It came from the remowned Dubai-based Samawi collection, as did another success story: Samia Halaby’s Blue Trap (in a Railroad Station) (1977), which went for $384,000 after an exciting three-way bidding battle.
Saudi Arabian artists collectively broke the million-dollar barrier, emphasising the Kingdom’s wealth of achievement, past and present. The influential painter Mohammed al Saleem’s O’ God, Honor Them and Do Not Honor an Enemy Over Them (1977) tripled its presale estimate to sell for $660,000, while renowned Saudi Modernist Abdulhalim Radwi’s Untitled (1984) also soared past its upper estimate to hammer down for a record-breaking $264,000.
Two of the Kingdom’s internationally renowned contemporary artists Ahmed Mater and Maha Malluh also exceeded their presale estimates with a winning $102,200 bid for Mater’s Illumination Diptych (Makkiah Tale) (2012) and $84,000 for Malluh’s Magadeer (from Food for Thought) (2024).
Jewellery and Sports Memorabilia Take the Stage
The second part of the auction saw Senior Jewellery Specialist Jessica Wyndham take over the rostrum to present a striking selection of fine jewellery and sporting memorabilia, reflecting the very latest trends in collecting across the world. Highlights of the evening ranged from a spectacular pair of pendant Graff earrings selling for an astonishing $780,000 to a highly covetable white-gold and diamond Himalaya Birkin by Hermès that smashed its presale estimate to realise a final $336,000. Meanwhile, a Rolex Paul Newman Daytona made $240,000 and a stunning, specially commissioned Cartier Crash hammered down for $228,000.
Sports memorabilia has been a fast-growing component of Sotheby’s core offering in recent years, and in Origins several exciting lots reflected the vigour and enthusiasm for this booming sector of the market. This evening, clients welcomed items from some of the biggest names in sports, such as Michael Jordan, whose game-worn jersey from the 1998 NBA playoffs sold for a slam-dunk $960,000. Another global hero, Cristiano Ronaldo was represented with four jerseys and a pair of signed boots – combined for a total of $151,200.
In conclusion, one is left in no doubt that Origins, an auction of 117 lots symbolised a new era for Sotheby’s as the 280-year-old company’s new Riyadh offices open, in response to sustained demand amongst the Kingdom’s collectors. As a new wind of change sweeps the nation, celebrating art, culture, unity and global excellence, Origins served to remind us all of a luminescent history – and pave the way to a glittering future.
