Dubai: More than 200 pieces of artworks and luxury watches, estimated to be worth of $7.5 million (Dh25 million) are expected to go under the hammer at Christie’s auctions in Dubai next week.

The London auction house will sell a total of 157 paintings, sculptures, drawings and other modern and contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish artworks on March 19 at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel. The sale of timepieces, representing global luxury brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Bulgari, Piaget and Chopard, among others, will be held the following evening.

The artworks have a combined pre-auction value of $5.5 million, while the watches carry a pre-sale estimate of $2 million. Christie’s auctions seek to cater to buyers and collectors at all levels, with estimates ranging from $2,000 to $200,000 for artworks and $1,000 to $350,000 for timepieces.

Modern Egyptian art

One of the highlights of the art sale, a portrait entitled Haguer by the father of modern Egyptian art Mahmoud Said, has an estimate of $150,000 to 200,000 (Dh550,000 to Dh734.000).

“[This] work really needs to be seen in person in order to appreciate its mysterious beauty and the sitter’s presence. Paintings by Said such as this work rarely come up on the market,” Hala Khayat, head of sale, Christie’s Dubai, told Gulf News. “Only a handful are still available for sale and it is sure to be seen as a much sought-after jewel for any collector of Modern Egyptian art.”

In 2010, the late artist’s 1929 painting, called ‘The Whirling Dervishes’, went to an anonymous bidder for $2.5 million, about six times the pre-sale estimate of $300,000 to 400,000. Another painting by the same artist, ‘Pecheurs à Rosette’, was sold for $818,500 (Dh 3 million).

With interest rates at low levels, investors and collectors spending more money on fine art to store wealth.

Middle Eastern art, particularly the works of celebrated artists from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and Syria, have caught the attention of new buyers from the region and around the world.

Last year, Christie’s Middle Eastern art sales fetched $18.4 million, up 30 per cent from 2012. Consumers in the region, particularly Dubai, also have a huge appetite for fine jewellery. The average spending on luxury goods, including watches, cars and leather goods, in the Middle East is about €1,400 per year per capita, the highest in the world, according to Bain & Company.

“There’s been a long tradition and history of people in this region buying jewellery and watches,” Michael Jeha, managing director at Christie’s Middle East, told Gulf News in a previous interview.

Next week’s art auction will also feature more than 40 other masterpieces in the Pharos Collection, which covers 100 years of Egyptian art and includes works by artists Mahmoud Mokhtar, Adam Henein and Hassan Soliman, among others. Some creative works by Iraqi artists will also be featured at the auction.