On Oct. 11, 2010, Bonhams held another record-breaking auction at the Royal Mirage Hotel in Dubai. The auction, Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern & South Asian Art, Fine Watches and Collectors’ Motor Cars, was a huge success realizing over $4.4 million USD, 65% of the lots being sold.
The sale also marked the first time Classic Collectors’ Motor Cars were auctioned in United Arab Emirates. The auction offered a variety of classics, from a 1930s Lincoln ($82,800) to a 1972 one-off Ferrari Daytona Shooting Break ($300,000). BMW entrusted Bonhams’ with the selling of two of their museum collection models, a BMW M1 ($264,000) and 3.0CSL ‘Batmobile’ ($218,400), both world-record prices for these cars.
One of the world’s oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques, Bonhams has always been recognized throughout all sectors of the industry with many of its departments established as international leaders within their specialist category.
Arab News got a chance to talk art, gears and time with the CEO of Bonhams UK, Europe and Middle East, Matthew Girling. A great privilege to speak to a man of such insight and expertise, we attempted to get a cheat sheet of today’s trends in Middle Eastern collecting to the most sought-after pieces on the market today. Here, he tells us everything we need to know about exclusivity and luxuriousness — two words Arabs can’t help but gravitate toward.
Monday’s auction saw competitive local and international bidding taking place in a vibrant, animated and packed saleroom. I am particularly encouraged to witness the confidence that has self-evidently returned to the art market and the positive response we have had from local collectors to the carefully selected sale we put together. The results have exceeded our expectations.
Well, during this week’s auction our star lots were mainly by modern masters, like a rare fruitwood sculpture “Mother & Child” by Jewad Selim (Iraq 1919-1961), considered by many to be the father of modern Iraqi art. It sold for a world-record price for the artist of $384,000. There was also an early 1970’s work by Ahmad Moustafa (Egypt), private French collection of Kayyali (Syria), and a 1960’s Zenderoudi (Iran). We also auctioned an extremely rare museum quality work by the Pakistani master, Allah Bux. It was not only the largest, but one of his most important works to have come on the market.
There are some great international level collectors based in the Middle East. There is long history of collecting especially in countries like Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt, but the Gulf countries are catching up fast in terms of quality and size of collections. Saudi Arabia also has a few big collectors, but perhaps they are quite low profile. Of course, the future museum projects of Qatar and Abu Dhabi will rival any collection in the international arena.
We are selling Middle Eastern art, but also South Asian art, which obviously reflects the interest in this collecting field. We also sell Orientalist art and have now added cars and watches. I think eventually there will be a lot more categories as the market matures.
We do see patriotic buying trends; however, most Middle Eastern collections will be pan-Arab with perhaps greater number of works from a particular country. There is a Saudi collector who has a tremendous Iraqi collection. Recently it’s become more interesting, as we witnessed in our last auction, when an Indian collector was aggressively bidding on an Egyptian work. Europeans are also beginning to buy more seriously. Also, a non-Arab collector purchased Saudi artist, Faisal Samra’s important work.
Absolutely! A lot more interest has come about especially after the groundbreaking British Museum show “Word into Art” along with the new publications that have come out on the subject of Middle Eastern art in the last two years. I think academia and international institutional exhibitions are the only long-term ways of promoting Arab or any regional art to the international scene. For example, participation of Saudi artists in “Edge of Arabia,” in Venice Biennale 2009 show brought these fabulous works into the international arena.
Aside from Iranian art, I would say Iraqi art has been very well received and I am sure Egyptian art will follow. Further east, of course Indian art is leading the region in terms of interest from major institutions as well as international collectors buying major works.
Bonhams has been doing business with Middle Eastern collectors for decades, so that was not new. However, to have a regional presence is extremely important in this market, and to service our clients in a meaningful way can only be done with an official presence and commitment.
I think we all felt the “adjustment” of the market last year, but as we are in the region for the long term, we continued to have auctions and will look forward to more in the future. The market is in its infancy and can only continue to grow and flourish. It is vibrant and had the ability to correct itself and continue, and this is even before the major museums have arrived. However, institutional support is needed and an art infrastructure is required to sustain art schools and publications, education, restorers, art critics, curators, professional shippers, etc.
I would say as trend investments like cash and property don’t pay as much return. People are looking at other ways to invest and perhaps also enjoy these investments like art, vintage cars, jewelry and watches. Recently, we have witnessed very low interest rates across Europe and America. Inevitably this has resulted in wealthy people looking at other areas in which to put their money in. As inflation creeps up, some art-related purchases are outstripping money invested in institutions. However, I would add the caveat that as an auction house, we advise collectors not investors. Our market covers such a broad scope of items that it is impossible to generalize.
The auctions nurture the cultural scene both regionally and internationally by bringing Dubai and the Middle East and its art to the world press and attention of curators and collectors alike. As mentioned earlier, it draws in collectors from around the world as a major art destination.
