Sotheby's will hold its first major fine art auction in Abu Dhabi on 10 December 2026 at the Saadiyat Grove Experience Centre on Saadiyat Island. The sale forms part of the second edition of Collectors' Week and brings together works by major international artists alongside pieces by pioneers of Emirati art.
Among the international lots, Claude Monet's "Prunes et Abricots," painted between 1882 and 1885, carries a pre-sale estimate of $2 million to $2.6 million. Andy Warhol's 1985 "Ads" portfolio is also going under the hammer, alongside a Christo drawing titled "The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi," estimated at $180,000 to $250,000, and Fernando Botero's 2008 bronze "Donna con Ombrello," estimated at $350,000 to $550,000.
The Emirati section of the sale includes works by Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and Hassan Sharif. Najat Makki's 1988 painting "A Woman's State of Being" carries an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000, and the auction marks the first time works by Nujoom Al Ghanem and Nasser Al Yousif have appeared at auction. Other artists featured in the sale include Etel Adnan, Huguette Caland, Inji Efflatoun, Fahrelnissa Zeid, S H Raza, Paul Guiragossian and Jade Fadojutimi.
Notably, the auction takes place exactly one day before the opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi on 11 December, a scheduling choice that underlines how the emirate is positioning itself as a growing hub for the regional art market, drawing both international collectors and buyers with a specific interest in Emirati and wider Gulf art history.