Sotheby's is adding fine art to its Abu Dhabi programme for the first time. The auction house will hold Breaking Ground, its first international fine art sale in the emirate, on December 10, 2026, as the centrepiece of a second Collectors' Week running from December 4 to 10 at the Saadiyat Grove Experience Centre on Saadiyat Island.

The sale is designed to pair familiar international names with artists from the region. Early highlights reported for the auction include works by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol alongside leading Middle Eastern artists and pioneering Emirati figures, with one work by Lebanese modernist Paul Guiragossian, Varte (Rose) from 1986, carrying an estimate of 120,000 to 180,000 dollars. The head of the sale has said the selection aims to introduce regional artists to international buyers while also bringing new names to local collectors, with accessible price points kept in mind.

No overall estimate for the sale has been released yet, as consignments were still being accepted when the programme was announced. Further lot details are expected in November. Public exhibitions open on December 4, accompanied by panel discussions, masterclasses and other events for collectors and visitors.

Five luxury auctions take place the day before the fine art sale, on December 9: Icons of Elegance for handbags, Shapes of Cartier for watches, Colour and Splendour for jewellery, The Statement for bicycles and Driven by Design for cars. Last year's inaugural Collectors' Week in December 2025 covered luxury categories only, so the fine art sale marks a clear expansion of the house's footprint in the Gulf.

The timing places Sotheby's in the middle of a crowded Abu Dhabi cultural calendar. Frieze Abu Dhabi opens its first edition from November 19 to 22, and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is due to open on December 11, the day after the fine art sale, with the Formula 1 weekend also drawing international visitors to the city.