Saudi artist Safeya Binzagr set a new auction record after her 1968 painting Coffee Shop in Madina Road sold for just over $2 million at Sotheby’s “Origins II” auction in Diriyah, marking a milestone for the Kingdom’s growing art market.
The work achieved approximately $2.1 million including buyer’s premium, more than ten times its pre-sale estimate of $150,000–200,000, becoming the highest-priced artwork by a Saudi artist ever sold at auction and the most expensive artwork sold at auction within Saudi Arabia.
The record-breaking sale made Binzagr’s painting the top lot of the auction, outperforming international works on offer, including Pablo Picasso’s Paysage (1965), which sold for around $1.6 million.
The auction, held on January 31, realised a total of $19.6 million, exceeding expectations and underscoring increasing collector confidence in the regional art market. Sotheby’s said the sale attracted strong local participation, with around one-third of buyers based in Saudi Arabia.
Works by other Saudi artists also performed strongly. Paintings by Mohammed Al-Saleem and Dia Aziz Dia sold well above their estimates, reflecting growing demand for modern and contemporary Saudi art alongside established international names.
“Origins II” was Sotheby’s second major auction in Diriyah and focused exclusively on art, positioning Saudi artists within a broader global context while highlighting the Kingdom’s cultural heritage and emerging collector base.
Binzagr is widely regarded as the “spiritual mother” of contemporary Saudi art, said Sotheby's. Born in Jeddah, in the heart of the old city, Binzagr was deeply inspired by the Kingdom’s cultural heritage, travelling across its regions to document local traditions, customs, and dress.
Her lifelong dedication to preserving Saudi identity through art earned her the prestigious King Salman bin Abdulaziz Medal in 2017.
Painted in 1968, Coffee Shop in Madina Road offered a rare opportunity to acquire a work from Binzagr’s personal legacy, as the artist seldom sold or gifted her paintings. It came to auction from the distinguished collection of Alberto Mestas García, the Ambassador of Spain to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from October 1966 to May 1976, and his wife, Mercedes Suárez de Tangil Guzmán.
