Market Update: From oil to canvas: Saudi Arabia’s emerging art economy – Full Analysis

RIYADH: When a painting by Saudi artist Safeya Binzagr sold for $2.1 million at Sotheby’s second auction in Riyadh in January, it marked a milestone for Saudi art on the global stage. The record-breaking sale signaled rising international interest, but it also raised an important question about what can help support a thriving art market in the Kingdom.

Government bodies like Riyadh Art and Misk Art, festivals like the Jeddah Islamic and Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennales, and international exhibitions like Desert X held at AlUla have all been a boon to the Kingdom’s arts and culture space.

Under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, culture is to account for about 3 percent of the gross domestic product by the end of this decade, about SR180 billion ($48 billion). That eclipses its SR60 billion size in 2023, which was double pre-2018 levels.  

The Kingdom’s art scene is nascent and growing, achieving milestones beyond the domestic market. This is evident in the clear interest of international auction houses that have showcased the works of Saudi artists.

“International appetite for Saudi artists is growing,” Ashkan Baghestani, Sotheby’s contemporary art specialist and head of the “Origins” sale, told Arab News. A third of the lots sold in “Origins II” went to local buyers, he said. 

“Crucially, the sale also attracted significant international participation — further proof that Saudi artists are entering global conversations about modern and contemporary art,” Baghestani said. 

“Collectors are actively seeking artists with strong cultural narratives, and Saudi voices fit that demand exceptionally well.”

Since their inaugural “Origins” auction in February 2025, Sotheby’s has registered an uptick in interest for Saudi artists, and the first sale underlined the strong demand from both local and regional buyers. 

For the second edition, Sotheby’s wanted to showcase Saudi artists across generations, while placing their work within a broader regional and international context. 

“The results demonstrated that Saudi artists are now competing confidently on an international stage and the demand mirrors the energy we are seeing more broadly in the global art market,” Baghestani said.

Before Sotheby’s held “Origins II,” Qantara Studio, a Saudi-based art and wealth advisory, published projections for every Saudi lot. They projected a range for Binzagr’s work of $1.05 million to $1.35 million. It sold for almost double that estimate. 

“We projected the full sale at $15.5 million to $20.2 million,” Qantara founder Sarah Albaiz, told Arab News. “The result was $19.5 million. We built that model because it did not exist.”

Qantara is one of the few, if not only, sources that publish data and surveys on the Saudi art market. 

“That is the story of this market. Not the record prices,” Albaiz said.

“The fact that a $19.5 million auction happened and there was no independent pricing intelligence anywhere in the country. Most of this market happens privately, off auction, with no public price at all. People are buying and selling on instinct.” 

Some are overpaying by 15 to 20 percent without knowing it, Qantara data shows. Others own works worth multiples of what they paid. Qantara runs comparable analysis and independent valuations for their clients before they buy anything.

While this sounds like basics for the more developed Western markets, like New York and London, this service is scarce in Saudi Arabia’s local market. 

The art industry will mature as the incubating and supporting infrastructure gathers pace and becomes more anchored, according to experts. 

“It will be exciting to watch the trajectory of the Kingdom’s incredible artists,” Ridha Moumni, Christie’s chairperson in the Middle East and Africa, told Arab News. 

Abdulhalim Radwi’s “Still Life,” painted in 1959, was the first modern and contemporary Saudi work that was sold at a Christie’s auction in 2008, with an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. Now, as one of the most important figures in the Kingdom’s art history, his work achieves over $200,000, Moumni said. 

“If a similar work by Radwi were to appear on the market today, it would likely command an even higher price and attract considerable interest from collectors,” he said, indicative of increasing recognition globally. 

Middle Eastern collectors account for 23 percent of global demand for contemporary artworks priced above $1 million, according to Qantara. While Saudi private wealth exceeds $2.4 trillion, buyers from the Kingdom account for 0.01 percent of those art purchases. 

Art has outperformed Saudi Arabia’s real estate market on a risk-adjusted basis over the past decade, according to Qantara. Art also moves independently from equities, so it lowers overall portfolio risk, Qantara maintains. 

In contrast to the 7 percent that’s allocated by family offices globally to art, their peers in the Kingdom set around 1 percent. 

Despite greater interest from international auction houses, art investment remains mostly informal and collector-driven, with limited institutional funds, art financing, and secondary market depth. 

“The money is not moving because nobody has packaged the opportunity properly,” Albaiz said. “Real estate has brokers, appraisals, title deeds, mortgage products. Equities have exchanges, research coverage, brokerage accounts. Art in Saudi (Arabia) has none of that.”

This is where Qantara sees opportunity for its services. “We build the allocation case in language a chief investment officer already understands: risk-adjusted returns, correlation benefits, acquisition strategy, valuation methodology, exit planning.”

Financing challenges aside, the exhibition pipeline is real. 

One of the leading contemporary art galleries, ATHR, operates three Saudi locations. The London-based art gallery Colnaghi is opening in Riyadh, and roughly 20 museums are planned.

The opening of the Saudi Arabian Museum of Contemporary Art has fostered interest in the arts. Graduates in cultural fields rose 79 percent in a single year due to governmental support in academia and training. 

Hanan Bahamdan, who became the first Saudi artist to sell at a Sotheby’s auction in 2007 — when a portrait painting by her was bought by a German buyer at the first sale of “Modern and Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art” in London — told Arab News the audience and the Kingdom’s art landscape have evolved markedly.

“At that time, there was still limited familiarity with Saudi art internationally. Many collectors outside the region had not yet encountered the work of Saudi artists, so the exposure was relatively new,” Bahamdan said.

“In recent years, we have seen an expansion in international engagement, something that was made very clear with Safeya Binzagr’s recent record-breaking sale at Sotheby’s,” she added.

Moumni of Christie’s said collectors are increasingly interested in works that offer “meaningful insight into culture and identity.

“Saudi artists have been establishing themselves internationally for more than two decades,” Moumni said. Artists such as Ahmed Mater, Manal AlDowayan, Dana Awartani, Mohannad Shono, Abdulnasser Gharem, Alia Ahmad, and many others demonstrate the depth and maturity of the scene. 

Awartani is representing Saudi Arabia at the upcoming Venice Biennale. This comes after AlDowayan’s work was exhibited in 2024 and Mater was showcased at Christie’s London Summer Exhibition 2024. 

“We are seeing growing activity in lower‑priced segments and among new buyers,” Sotheby’s said. “That mix is particularly favorable for Saudi artists, who bring strong cultural identity alongside increasing institutional recognition,” they said. 

Looking ahead, for Saudi Arabia’s art industry to become a major commercial market, financial infrastructure is key, according to Albaiz.

“Regional artists still trade at 15 to 30 percent of Western peers with the same museum representation,” she said.

“Every maturing market in history closed that gap. Japan in 12 years. China in 15. South Korea in 10. Saudi is earlier on that curve than any of them were when the smart money entered,” Albaiz said.

“The people who build the infrastructure do not just participate in the upside. They set the terms. That’s why we are here.”