DUBAI: Sotheby’s will stage a fine art exhibition in Abu Dhabi next month, bringing together works from the celebrated Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, Rene Magritte and Camille Pissarro.
Running from Oct. 1 to 2 at the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, the show will feature six masterworks with a combined value of $150 million. It will also mark Sotheby’s most valuable exhibition ever presented in the region.
Frida Kahlo, 'El sueño (La cama),' 1940. (Supplied)
Among the highlights is Kahlo’s “El sueno (La cama),” painted in 1940 during a period of personal turmoil. The work is worth an estimated $40 to $60 million, the highest valuation for a Kahlo piece to date.
Van Gogh’s “Romans Parisiens (Les Livres jaunes),” valued at around $40 million, will also be on display. The still life, first exhibited in Paris in 1888, is regarded as one of the artist’s most significant works and has rarely been shown publicly.
Other featured pieces include Gauguin’s “La Maison de Pen du, gardeuse de vache” (1889), Pissarro’s “Bords de l’Oise a Pontoise” (1872), Munch’s “Sankthansnatt Johannisnacht (Midsummer Night’s Eve)” and Magritte’s “Le Jockey perdu” (1942).
Paul Gauguin, 'La Maison de Pen du, gardeuse de vache,' 1889. (Supplied)
Each painting comes from notable private collections, including those of Leonard Lauder, the American businessman and philanthropist; Cindy and Jay Pritzker, the Chicago-based family behind the Pritzker Architecture Prize; and Matthew and Kay Bucksbaum, American philanthropists known for their support of the arts and education.
None of the works have been exhibited in the Middle East before, with several not displayed publicly for more than 50 years.
Following Abu Dhabi, the collection will travel to London and Paris before being offered in New York during Sotheby’s November auctions.
