On October 1-2, 2025, Abu Dhabi will play host to a gathering of rare works by some of the most important names in modern art.
Sotheby’s is bringing six masterworks with a combined value of $150 million (Dhs551 million approx.) to the Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, marking its first public exhibition of fine art in Abu Dhabi and the most valuable show the auction house has staged in the region.
The exhibition spans a century of painting and unites artists whose influence has shaped art history: Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, René Magritte, and Camille Pissarro.
The two-day exhibition offers visitors in Abu Dhabi the chance to encounter art that rarely leaves private hands and to witness the capital’s growing presence on the global art map. None of the works has been shown in the Middle East before, and three of them have not been on public view for more than fifty years.
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For Abu Dhabi, the arrival of these works is more than a cultural milestone. “This exhibition underscores our commitment to bringing masterpiece works of art to the region,” said Charles F. Stewart, Sotheby’s CEO. “We are deeply honored to have been entrusted with these works and equally honored to present them here in Abu Dhabi.” Katia Nounou Boueiz, Head of Sotheby’s UAE, called the show “a true milestone” for the house in the Middle East. “From Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin to Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch and René Magritte, the exhibition brings together long-unseen masterworks by six of the most revered names in art history. We look forward to welcoming collectors, art enthusiasts, and the wider public alike to experience these exceptional works.”
It is a moment that places the city within the itinerary of international art circulation, linking it to London, Paris, and New York. After their showing in the capital, the paintings will travel to Europe before returning to Sotheby’s New York, where they will be offered during the November sales that coincide with the opening of the house’s new headquarters in the historic Breuer Building on Madison Avenue.
Munch’s distinctive luminous landscape once belonged to Leonard A. Lauder, one of America’s leading patrons of the arts. Van Gogh and Gauguin were, until recently, in the Chicago home of Cindy and Jay Pritzker, the family behind the architecture prize that has honored figures from Jean Nouvel to Frank Gehry. A striking canvas by Magritte comes from the collection of Matthew and Kay Bucksbaum, noted for their cultural and philanthropic contributions in the United States.
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