Christie’s and Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) will stage an international exhibition in Abu Dhabi in October as part of Christie’s global exhibition programme.

The program tours selected masterpieces to international locations such as London, New York, Hong Kong and Moscow, and will be the first of its kind to be held in the Middle East.

Sponsored by Credit Suisse, the show will take place on October 26 and 27 at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, and feature leading international sale highlights and masterpieces loaned from private collectors.

This major exhibition will be followed by Christie’s fifth auction series in the Middle East to be held in Dubai, which will include outstanding sales of jewels and watches and international modern and contemporary art. It will be held on October 29 and 30 respectively.

'It will give collectors a unique opportunity to view some of the greatest works of art being sold by Christie’s International in our leading salerooms around the globe,' said Jussi Pylkkänen, president of Christie’s Europe and Middle East.

'The show will also feature the best of Middle East art which will be exhibited alongside works loaned from major private collections in the region and highlights from our forthcoming sales in Dubai.'

In April this year, Christie’s auctions of Jewels and Watches and International Modern and Contemporary Art realised over $40 million and saw 6 works sell for over $1 million, as the global interest in the Middle Eastern art market saw prices move to new levels.

Since Christie’s opened an office in Dubai in 2005 and became the first international auction house to have a permanent presence in the Middle East, it has realised over $100 million since its first sale in 2006, and has seen buyers from an average of over 30 countries at each sale, said an official.-TradeArabia News Service