Art market is still the picture of health

Christie's sets records with Dubai auction.

The local art market is defying the economic downturn and setting sales records while growing at an unprecedented pace, auction houses and dealers say. Christie's recent sale of Egyptian art in Dubai brought in more than US$8 million (Dh29.3m), almost six times its estimate, helping to boost the proceeds of its sale week to more than $23m.

"We offered the collection of Dr Mohammed Said Farsi, composed of 25 works by modern Egyptian artists," said Alexandra Kindermann, the spokeswoman for Christie's. "The pre-sale estimate of these lots was set at $1.5m and made nearly six times more, when it achieved a sale total of $8.7m and establishing eight new world auction records," she added. "In all, the recent sale week in Dubai totalled over $23.7m and set 23 new auction records for regional artists."

Although many people remain cautious shoppers because of the economic uncertainty, galleries and dealers in the UAE say they continue to see a growing demand for quality art. "There are many reasons that people are continuing to buy art works even in these difficult economies," said Shah Ahmad Ahern, the managing partner of the Red Gallery, the first art gallery dedicated to contemporary Asian fine and Vietnamese art in Dubai.

"People are looking for value for their money and art provides that for them. Art is also a good and relatively safe way of investment." Huong Nguyen, the founder and managing partner of the Red Gallery, said the region's developing tastes were also a factor. "But I think for the most part, people are buying now and will continue to buy works of art because they love art and they have passion for art."

Art as a business is a relatively new phenomenon in the country, but it is growing rapidly. The UAE has seen an increase in the number of galleries and has attracted the big names such as Christie's and Bonhams. Earlier this month Bonhams brought Taline Nicole Aynilian, their senior specialist based in New York, to Dubai and Abu Dhabi to conduct presentations on Orientalist paintings and sculpture.

The series culminated with a sale of Orientalist art on May 13, with individual works selling for prices ranging from $3,000 to $1.5m. Bonhams said it was committed to establishing Abu Dhabi and Dubai as regular stops on its international auction calendar and making the Middle East region a key addition to its global presence. So is Red Gallery. "I believe that the West is hungry for eastern art and South East Asian art is the best art for your money," said Ms Nguyen.

"And we offer that valued art to Dubai and very soon to Abu Dhabi with our focus on Asian, especially Vietnamese art. Since Vietnam opened up to the world under renovation in the late 1980s, the nation's artists have delighted the world with a fresh vision of their culture." The outlook is bright elsewhere, too. "The art market is very healthy and works of high quality and important provenance are in high demand all over the world," said Ms Kindermann.

Christie's sold Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust for $106.5m at its sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York early this month, she said. The 27 lots in the sale brought in a total of $224m. Such news will reinforce the optimism of art dealers and gallery owners here that the expansion will continue, not only in sales but also the number of people in the region interested in fine art.

"The outlook for the coming months is spectacular," Ms Kindermann said. @Email:[e-mail]