Abu Dhabi Art Fair

• Leila Heller Gallery: a Shiva Ahmadi barrel for $25,000 to a Middle Eastern collector; Liz Taylor series of prints that have attracted such attention. It was a gamble that paid off, as she sold several for $30,000 each.
• Galerie El-Marsa: a Rachid Koraichi for $125,000 to a new buyer in the region and artist Thameur Mejri’s My Best Friend is a Butcher goes to a government official for $15,000.
• Galerie Thaddeus Ropac: four Antony Gormley sculptures for between $200,000 and $300,000 each.
• Jemimah Patterson: “Last year one collector bought her entire offering of 10 pieces; Dr John Loy, an Abu Dhabi-based nuclear physicist, and his wife Annice, missed out then, but are determined not to for a second time. The couple snap up one of her works for about $5,000.”

 Emirati Expressions

• A piece called Historical Identity by Fatema Al Mazrouie garners $22,000;
• two photographic works by the Saudi artist Reem Al Faisal go for $14,000;
• Hassan Sharif fetches $41,000 for one of his works
• Faiza Mubarak sells Cubes for $25,000.

Relocated and reimagined: Abu Dhabi Art Fair’s emergence (The National)

The Abu Dhabi Art Fair just closed and claims 17,000 attendees. Many of the world’s top dealers were their cultivating the Gulf States clientele. Even though work on Saadiyat Island seems to be halted and the whole project under review, Abu Dhabi’s establishment continues to suppor the fair:

Her Highness Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, a collector and keen patron of the arts, also purchased outstanding works including:

• Alberto Giacometti, Femme Debout, 1961: This tremendous female figure exploring the link between the physical and the soul, was made a few years before he died
• Jeff Koons, Dipstick, Ed 3/3 2003: By one of the most well-known living artists this work is a diptych which emphasizes on the concept of duality
• Sean Scully, Tin Mal, 2010-2011: Composed of two triptychs, this work is the second in a series that he produced after being influenced by an artistic voyage to North Africa. The artwork is inspired by the architecture in Morocco both in terms of design and texture

ArtInfo.com has sales from Abu Dhabi Art as it opens this weekend:

• Haunch of Venison: an untitled Ahmed Alsoudani work went for $200,000 to an international collector familiar to the gallery.
• Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac: buyers bought works on paper by contemporary Iranian artist Rokni Haerizadeh in the $5,000-8,000
• Galerie el-Marsa: a work by Nja Mahdaoui for between $90,000-95,000 to an Emirati collector
• Opera Gallery: works by Bernard Buffet for around $200,000 and $550,445 pieces by Danaeifar Dalí sold to a French collector
• Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery: four works by Iranians Soody Sharifi for $8,000 each, and one by Afsoon for $5,000.Continue Reading

Lindsay Pollock reports on Abu Dhabi sales (including a couple that were previously reported):

Hauser and Wirth

• Gerhard Richter, Abstract Bild at $6m

• Roni Horn, Blue by Blue (D) 2007

• Alberto Giacometti, Tete, oil on canvas

Tony Shafrazi

• Keith Haring, Untitled at $5m

Jason Bereswill

• Study of Abu Dhabi 12 pieces  at $140,000

• Enrico Navarra

• Basquiat, Prayer at $3.9m

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