Christie’s London achieved £4.1 million ($5.2 million) in a sale of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art on November 6, with a 93% sell-through rate by value and 85% by lot. The sale featured 21 works from the Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF), part of the collection built by Ramzi Dalloul and Saeda El Husseini Dalloul over 55 years. Standout lots included Saloua Raouda Choucair’s *Poem* (1966–68), which sold for £393,700 ($500,000)—tripling its estimate and setting a world auction record for a wood artwork—and Sliman Mansour’s *Untitled* (2014), which fetched £323,850 ($411,000) after intense bidding. Seven artist records were set, with 38% of buyers new to Christie’s and 21% millennials.
The sale underscores a broader market shift as Middle Eastern and North African artists, long undervalued, see rapid price corrections amid growing international recognition. The strong results, with 56% of lots exceeding estimates, signal rising demand from younger collectors and affirm the Dalloul Collection’s significance as a benchmark for Arab modern and contemporary art. This trend suggests a lasting revaluation of the region’s artistic heritage in the global market.