RECORDS SET FOR ARAB ARTISTS AT SOTHEBY’S DEBUT SAUDI ARABIA AUCTION
The much anticipated Origins sale was held in Diriyah on February 8 2025, marking the first major international art and luxury auction held in Saudi Arabia. Attendance numbers were high, the sale achieving a sell-through rate of 67% by lot and 74% by value. Prior to the sale, predictions proposed that the luxury segment would surpass the art, but this was not proven to be the case. Out of the fine art lots, works by René Magritte, Fernando Botero and Banksy sold for more than $1m, within their estimates. The strongest lots were by Arab artists with Louay Kayyali’s Then What?? (1965) fetching $900,000 and setting an artist record. All four works by Saudi Arabian artists sold for above estimate, including Samia Halaby’s Blue Trap (in a Railroad Station) for $384,000, nearly double its high estimate. Ashkan Baghestani, Sotheby's Head of Contemporary Day Sale, said in a statement that, “the results that we have achieved here during our inaugural sale is a clear signal of the depth of appetite that exists for art, and the thirst that is ready to be unlocked, of which tonight was a successful next step.”
Louay Kayyali (b. 1934), Then What??, 1965
HIDDEN PORTRAIT DISCOVERED BEHIND PICASSO BLUE PERIOD PAINTING
Conservators at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London have uncovered a painting of a woman underneath a Blue Period portrait of a man by Pablo Picasso. Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto (1901) depicts the artist’s sculptor friend, painted shortly after Picasso moved from Spain to Paris at just 19 years old. Through the use of X-rays and infrared imaging, conservators discovered the second portrait of the woman, whom researchers have speculated was a model or acquaintance of Picasso. In addition, there are traces of a second female head, a sign that the canvas had been reworked several times. While the portrait is emblematic of Picasso’s Blue Period, the second woman is reminiscent of the artist’s Impressionistic style. Barnaby Wright, deputy head of the Courtauld Gallery said in a statement, “We have long suspected another painting lay behind the portrait of de Soto because the surface of the work has telltale marks and textures of something below. You can even start to make out her shape just by looking at the painting with the naked eye.”
Pablo Picasso (b. 1881), Portrait of Mateu Fernández de Soto, 1901
CHRISTIE’S TO PRESENT WOLFGANG TILLMANS: THE WAY WE LOOK ACROSS ITS DAY AND ONLINE SALES
Christie’s will be presenting Wolfgang Tillmans: The Way We Look, a collection of 15 photography works by Wolfgang Tillmans. This is the first time the works will be on the market, having been part of a private collection, and will be part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day and Online sales starting on 26 February 2025. The works span the 20th century and end with prominent pieces from the 1990s, capturing pivotal moments in history like the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the formation of the European Union in 1993. Tillmans was awarded the Turner Prize in 2000, the first non-British artist and first photographer to be receive this award. Works in the collection that will be presented include Summer still life (1995), JAL (1997), and Concorde (1996). Alongside these will be portraits such as Kate Sitting (1996), capturing iconic model Kate Moss, and Joy Ray (1990), which is an intimate snapshot of Tillmans’ friends. Holding an estimate of £120,000 – 180,0000, one of the highlights of the collection is Urgency XIX (2006). A camera-less photograph, this work redefines the process of photography through its use of controlled light exposure on photosensitive paper. Katharine Arnold, Vice Chairman 20th/21stCentury Art and Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, shared that, “This collection of Wolfgang Tillmans’ photographs not only captures a defining decade but also highlights his transformative approach to photography. Through his lens, Tillmans explores intimacy, connection, and the beauty of everyday life, all while challenging the boundaries of the medium. Collectively, these works reflect his fascination with photography’s power to speak to both the individual’s role in society and the broader social fabric. We are thrilled to present this iconic collection in our upcoming Post-War and Contemporary Art Sales in London this season.”
Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968), Urgency XIX, 2006
THIS STORIED STRADIVARIUS VIOLIN MADE IN 1714 JUST SOLD FOR OVER $11 MILLION AT AUCTION
A Stradivarius violin, handcrafted by Antonio Stradivari in 1714, fetched US$11.25 million at a Sotheby’s auction on February 7. The lot was previously owned by Boston’s New England Conservatory (NEC), who will be using the proceeds to create a new scholarship opportunity for students. Andrea Kaylyn, president of the NEC, has shared that the scholarship will be “the largest named student scholarship program in the history of NEC.” The violin draws its name, Joachim-Ma, from renowned violinists Joseph Joachim and Si-Hon Ma. It is also important to note that the violin was crafted during Stradivari’s ‘golden period,’ considered the quality peak of his career. The violin was also under the ownership of Joachim, who acquired it in the mid-19th century when he was only 18 years old. It is extremely likely that Joachim played the violin at the premiere of Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D Major in 1879, conducted by Brahms himself.
The Joachim-Ma violin
QATAR TO BUILD PERMANENT VENICE BIENNALE PAVILION
Qatar Museums has announced that Qatar will have a permanent pavilion at the Venice Biennale, with the new site set to be constructed in the Giardini, next to the Bookshop Pavilion. Only two new pavilions have been opened in the last 50 years: Australia in 1988 and South Korea in 1995. Prior to this, Venice’s governance signed a Protocol of Cooperation between Qatar Museums and Municipality of Venice, in which they aim “to strengthen their existing relationships and enhance collaboration in the cultural and socio-economic fields among Qatar, Venice, and the Italian Republic.” The President of La Biennale di Venezia, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco shared in a statement, “in the spirit of curiosity, exploration, and sincere human exchange that characterises Venice and its Biennale, I welcome Qatar to the Giardini, as a powerful global source of creativity and cross-cultural understanding.”
KADER ATTIA COMMITS TO REPAIR WITHOUT ERASURE
Kader Attia, a French Algerian artist, presents his first exhibition in Southeast Asia titled Urgency of Existence, at the Jim Thompson Art Centre in Bangkok. The exhibition will include a selection of immersive installations alongside recent video and textile works. Attia’s practice focuses on the personal and collective traumas that are carried by our bodies and the effort to heal from or live with past trauma; the artist recognises the power that everyday objects hold in retelling these narratives. One of the installation works, On Silence (2021/24), consists of used prosthetic limbs suspended from the ceiling. Attia has suggested that these prosthetics had previously belonged to survivors of warfare and territorial disputes, including refugees. While these limbs restored physical balance to the people using them, a sense of psychological trauma still pervades the work as the viewer is invited to consider the impact imperial and colonial violence. In Urgency of Existence, Attia highlights the potential for everyday objects to hold onto memories and narratives, in a similar way to which the body stores trauma. For example, La Valise Oubliée (The Forgotten Suitcase) (2024), brings to light the history of the Algerian War (1954-62), a decolonial conflict that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The theme of collective reparation is present throughout the exhibition, as Attia collects and shares the narratives of individuals and communities. The exhibition will be open until 16 March 2025.
Kader Attia (b. 1970), On Silence, 2021/24
Jordan Tan holds an MA in History of Art from the prestigious Courtauld Institute of Art. With a passion for fine art and the art market, Jordan plays a key role at Art Works by researching and interpreting trends across the primary and secondary markets, delivering valuable insights and business intelligence for the fine art department.
