While art markets in Europe and the United States sputter, a very different story is unfolding on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Dealers, gallerists, and auctioneers speak with something close to awe about the energy coursing through Doha, Dubai, and Riyadh.
Sotheby’s recent expansion into Saudi Arabia and its upcoming auction week in Abu Dhabi, in December, combined with Art Basel’s announcement of a new fair to be held in Qatar in 2026, has led to talk that this is the next foreign oasis—following Russia, Hong Kong, and India—to save the market from one of its perennial downturns. Noah Horowitz, Art Basel’s C.E.O., describes the region to me as a “hyperconnected, multi-hyphenate global mechanism,” which can loosely be translated as “There’s a lot of money sloshing around.”
