Hong Kong’s The Standard highlights the growing interest in Asian art among Gulf States buyers, especially the ruling families:

Maho Kubota, director of SCAI The Bathhouse in Tokyo, said her gallery tries to bring artwork with a Zen aesthetic because it found such works appeal to Middle Eastern collectors. Middle Eastern and Asian art often share a contemplative or meditative outlook, she noted. [ . . . ]

A range of works at this year’s Art Dubai drew their inspiration from antique art forms. The Car series from Ma Jun, one of China’s top young pop artists, evinces this trend. Ma used traditional Chinese vase- painting techniques to decorate a life- size, fiberglass model of a Buick with neon images of dragons, flowers and butterflies. The license plate reads: “Made in Ming Dynasty.” [ . . . ] The work sold to a member of Dubai’s ruling family for US$114,000 (HK$889,200). [ . . . ]

Joan Lee, president of Seoul’s Gallery Sun Contemporary, said her gallery came back to Art Dubai this year after the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Kuwait snapped up some of the works it brought to the fair last year. Collectors in the region are more familiar with Middle Eastern art but are open in their tastes, according to Lee.

Dubai Calling (The Standard/Hong Kong)