On 1 November 2026, Christie's held MAWASIM: 20 Years of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at The Abu Dhabi EDITION — the house's first dedicated fine-art auction in the city, and a marker of two decades since its first sale in the United Arab Emirates. The evening realized $8,940,800 and set nine auction records, the highest total Christie's has achieved for a Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art evening sale in more than ten years.
The sale was led by Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian's Variations on the Hexagon, 2006, which realized $844,800 after nearly seven minutes of bidding, well above its $150,000–250,000 estimate. MAWASIM, meaning "seasons" in Arabic, brought together 70 works spanning nine decades, from pioneering modernists to contemporary artists across the Middle East and North Africa, and followed a week of exhibition and programming at the hotel.
The result speaks to a deepening international appetite for modern and contemporary work from the region, and to Abu Dhabi's standing as a cultural destination. More than 30 percent of registrants were Millennial and Gen Z collectors, and 37 percent were new to Christie's.
For a city whose cultural district already holds a landmark as distinctive as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the evening was a confident opening of a new chapter. Collectors watching the region will find in these results a clear signal of energy and long-term commitment.
The Wall Art Gallery
Sources:
- Christie's official press release, 1 November 2026: https://press.christies.com/christies-holds-abu-dhabis-first-dedicated-fine-art-auction-realising-more-than-usd8940800
- Official sale page (sale total $8,940,800): https://www.christies.com/auction/auction-25379-dub/overview
- The Art Newspaper, 2 November 2026: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/11/02/christies-first-abu-dhabi-art-auction-fetches-more-than-89m