DUBAI: From Andy Warhol’s depiction of Queen Elizabeth II to works from one of Italy’s greatest artists, Sotheby’s Dubai is opening its doors from Sept. 26-29 with an exhibition that showcases the spectrum of the auction house’s international offerings.
Visitors to Dubai’s DIFC area will be able to view masterpieces of contemporary art, glittering jewels and coveted watches. The pieces will then travel to New York and Geneva to be auctioned.
For the first time, Sotheby’s Dubai will showcase a work from the major Contemporary Art auctions in New York, which take place biannually in May and November and set the benchmark for the global art market. The work on display will be a six-meter-wide masterpiece by artist Alighiero Boetti, one of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century.
Alighiero Boetti, ‘Mappa (Map),’ 1989-91, 259 x 580cm. (Supplied)
This work is the most important in a series that spanned two decades, titled “Mappa” (Maps). Crafted in Kabul, Afghanistan, and then Peshawar, Pakistan, by Afghan embroiderers, the work features along its upper and lower borders, in Italian and English, woven text, which reads: “Made in Peshawar Pakistan by Afghan people in 1989 and 90 and 91.”
Also on display will be a private collection of Warhol’s most legendary prints, including vibrant depictions of Queen Elizabeth II and Muhammad Ali. The source image for the Queen Elizabeth II prints is the official photographic portrait taken in The Queen’s Silver Jubilee year.
Andy Warhol’s 1985 print of Queen Elizabeth II. (Supplied)
Sotheby’s Dubai will also showcase rare Egyptian-themed jewels by legendary Italian jewelry house Castellani and the renowned designs of Louis Comfort Tiffany for Tiffany & Co, to celebrate 100 years since the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.
Alongside these masterpieces, rare jewels and watches from the likes of Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet and F.P. Journe will also be on display.
A second exhibition will follow in October, bringing together rare historic objects from the Islamic world and modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures by artists from the Middle East.