Marking the next step in Sotheby’s continued and long-term commitment to the Gulf region, the auction house returns to Riyadh for the second iteration of the Origins II sale, with a live auction on 31st January.
Following the resounding success of last year’s inaugural auction in Saudi Arabia in February 2025, Origins II picks up where the first Origins left off, continuing its journey into the Middle East and renewing its cultural mandate for yet another year. Cementing its foothold in the Kingdom as a unique platform for the sale of museum-worthy and historically important pieces of art, Sotheby’s remains dedicated to providing international visibility for the region, while supporting its growing art ecosystem. Origins II is building on last year’s landmark event, contributing to this cultural movement with significant artworks that usually soar past their presale estimates, to hammer down for record-breaking figures.
The auction is held alongside the opening of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale and also coincides with the debut of Art Basel Doha in February, marking their first-ever fair in the Middle East. Prior to the auction, all items from Origins II will be on display in a public exhibition at Diriyah’s Bujairi Terrace from 24 to 31 January, in a week-long celebration of art and culture.
Setting the Bar High for Fine Art in The Kingdom
When a symbolic event requires a symbolic setting, Diriyah more than fits the occasion.
The City of Earth and the birthplace of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Diriyah is the historic home of the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site and the host of this year’s Origins II.
The sale will feature Sotheby’s global offerings for new and seasoned collectors, with a remarkable curation of Middle Eastern and international artists represented at the auction by a variety of artwork and objects – past and present.
The quality and range of the art on offer is expected to perform magnificently and set new records along the way, affirming the high level of interest present in the Saudi Arabian art market. The sale will take in some of the most important Saudi artists of the past century, alongside monumental international names such as Pablo Picasso, in a vibrant display of Modern and Contemporary Art, with over 70 pieces on show. The auction also unites artworks and objects from across a variety of collecting categories, including Ancient Sculpture, 20th-Century Design and Prints, Middle Eastern art, Latin American and South Asian art.
Headline Lots
Safeya Binzagr: Coffee Shop in Madina Road (1968, oil on board, estimate. $150,000-200,000)
Safeya Binzagr, one of Saudi Arabia's pioneering artists, is represented at Origins II with a significant painting depicting the rich heritage of her country. Commenting on her 1968 exhibition, she stated: “After finding that the most admired paintings were those depicting desert and everyday life in Saudi Arabia, I decided to use my brush to record the changing traditions and social customs in my country”.
Born in Jeddah, Safeya was deeply influenced by local cultural heritage and set off across Saudi territories to capture the depth of its traditions, customs, and dress. In 2017, she was awarded the prestigious King Salman bin Abdulaziz Medal for her lifelong contribution to preserving Saudi identity through art.
Mahmoud Sabri: Demonstration (1968 oil on canvas, estimate. $400,000-500,000)
Iraqi artist Mahmoud Sabr represents a celebrated figure in the Iraqi art movement and was the leader of the Government’s first Iraqi Art Exhibitions Department. A rare masterwork, Demonstration reaffirms the artist’s powerful visual language that combines Christian imagery with strong social-realist components to render a highly charged scene of female mourners. Funerary imagery and martyrdom are recurrent themes traversing his works, used to highlight the suffering and plight of the Iraqi people.
Pablo Picasso: Paysage (1965, oil and Ripolin on cardboard, estimate. $2,000,000-3,000,000)
A Premium Lot, Paysage is the most anticipated piece headlining the Origins II sale and represents the most compelling expression of Picasso’s late engagement with landscape. Rooted in the hills surrounding Mougins, the painting is symbolic of a moment in which geography becomes inseparable from identity, and the natural world serves as a vehicle for inner projection.
In Paysage, the Massif de l’Esterel is not captured as a distant view but as something deeply personal, shaped by the artist’s own physical presence and emotional state. In contrast to Picasso’s early 1940s landscapes, marked by the muted tones of wartime Paris, his works from the 1950s and 1960s are alive with colour. Rich hues are used with confidence, turning the landscape into an extension of the self – a place where memory, emotion and geography merge into a personal visual language.
Sotheby’s Kinship with The Kingdom
Riyadh reveals a city of many layers. Great destinations in Riyadh, like Diriyah, don’t negotiate art and culture over luxury – they harmonise them. It was Diriyah’s cultural authenticity that sat at the heart of Sotheby’s placemaking and the company did well when deciding to undertake the mandate of official incorporation in Saudi Arabia at the end of 2025. The first-ever auction by Sotheby’s in Diriyah generated $17.3 million, with around a third of the buyers hailing from the Kingdom. It also signalled a new era for the 280-year-old auction house as it launched its newest premises in the thriving city of Riyadh. Sotheby’s courtship of the Saudi Arabian art market concluded in 2023 with the opening of its new office in the capital, inside the Al Faisaliah Tower – a landmark designed by Norman Foster and well-known for being the first skyscraper built in the country.
Final Thought
Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a profound cultural renaissance, with the arts and creative expression playing a central role in the Kingdom’s future. Sotheby’s decision to establish a permanent presence will be transformative for the region and entirely in synergy with the government’s programme Vision 2030, which places cultural growth and social diversity at its core. The Riyadh base marks a meaningful step, creating a platform where heritage, creativity, and contemporary luxury not only coexist but complement eachother. Through exhibitions, experiences, and dialogue, Sotheby’s will contribute to a broader cultural conversation, bringing the auction house’s values and expertise into one of the Kingdom’s most culturally significant settings.
