Following this summer’s exhibition at Sotheby’s titled Khamseen, curated in collaboration with Qaswra Hafez and Hafez Gallery, which celebrated fifty years of Saudi visual art, we are honoured to present key works by pioneering artists in this sale. Working between circa 1965&nbsp; - 1980, one of the central themes that connects these artists is their strong sense of identity and quest to find their own visual aesthetic. Two of the key pioneers of conceptual art in the Kingdom are also included. Their contribution to the growth and evolution of art in the Kingdom and for subsequent generations cannot be overstated.

Highlights from this summer’s exhibition at Sotheby’s

Khamseen: 50 Years of Saudi Visual Arts

The multitude of ways in which artists from the region approached figuration; from Bahman Mohassess’s detailed muscular humanoid monumental figure to Aref El Rayess’s dark silhouettes, Houshang Pezeshknia’s expressive modern faces, or Chant Avedissian’s celebrity icons.

An exploration of the multitude of ways in which artists from the region approached figuration.

Figurative Expressions

Whether abstracted, imagined or painted from life, these works reveal more than just the environments in which the artists were creating.

Works of art in which plants take center stage

Inspired by Nature

Mohammed Al Saleem’s Rare 1960s Masterpiece

Adriano Pedrosa’s curated exhibition pays homage to global modernisms across the themes of Abstraction and Portraits, with a particular focus on artists from the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Many are exhibited for the first time together at the Venice Biennale, forging new regional dialogues and resonances.

Artists exhibited at the 2024 Venice Biennale 

The 60th Venice Biennale

London

Dubai

Director | Head of Sale, Modern & Contemporary Middle East

Alexandra Yasmina Roy

SVP | Head of Contemporary Day Sale, Contemporary Art, New York & Middle East

Ashkan Baghestani

Deputy Chairman, Middle East

Katia Nounou Boueiz

Deputy Director | Client Liaison | MENA

Yasmeen Gailani

Cataloguer | Modern & Contemporary Middle East

Elika Blake

Pre-Sale Coordinator

Dominique Bourassa

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We are pleased to present our Modern and Contemporary Middle East auction which offers a curated selection of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, works on paper and a tapestry from the region’s most celebrated artists. Notable highlights include a monumental figure by the reclusive Iranian artist Bahman Mohassess; a tapestry designed by Simone Baltaxe and woven in Lebanon; a leporello by artist/poet Etel Adnan; two large scale paintings by Aref El Rayess and a sculpture by Mona Saudi which was published in 1981. An important part of the sale features a small selection of highlights from this summer’s Khamseen exhibition, showcasing some of the most renowned Saudi Arabian pioneers, notably Mohammed Al Saleem, Abdulhalim Radwi, Abdullah Al Shaikh and Saud Al Qahtani. The sale celebrates the breadth and depth of Middle Eastern, Iranian, Turkish and North African art with a wide representation of countries, mediums and subjects.