Middle East


Istock Metropolitan Police Sign

Important Assyrian artefact returned to Iraq after being held in UK for 22 years

25 September 2024

An ancient Assyrian artefact stolen from an archaeological site in Iraq in the early 1990s has been returned to the country after being stored for an extended period by the Metropolitan Police in London.

Nour Kelani

Christie’s expands to Middle East with presence in Saudi Arabia

20 September 2024

Christie’s becomes the first international auction house to secure a presence in the Gulf state and appoints managing director in the kingdom.

War recruitment poster

Pick of the week: Poster recruiting Jewish women to the war effort triples estimate at auction

18 March 2024

Second World War posters recruiting British and American women to the war effort are a familiar sight at auction.

Bonhams New York

New hires across the art and antiques sector including in the US and Middle East

26 April 2022

Among the latest Movers & Shakers news are appointments at Bonhams and Christie’s and a refurbishment at Artcurial.

CO34-1994 gandhara-sculptures-british-museum-2-0.jpg

Antiquities stolen from Afghanistan returned with help of British Museum and Met police’s Art and Antiques Unit

12 November 2019

Sculptures of Buddha dating from the 4th-6th centuries smuggled out of Afghanistan nearly 20 years ago have finally been returned to the country’s national museum.

‘Venus and Cupid’ by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Trio of high-value Old Master paintings enter museums

25 February 2019

Three major Old Master acquisitions by museums have been announced over the last fortnight. They include two works that headlined London’s latest auction series in this category.

Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’

Salvator Mundi: Louvre museum asks owner to loan world’s most expensive painting for Paris exhibition

20 February 2019

The Louvre museum in Paris has requested the loan of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ for its major exhibition dedicated to the artist opening in October.

Rembrandt’s ‘Head of a Young Man’

Louvre Abu Dhabi revealed as buyer of £8.2m Rembrandt portrait at Sotheby’s

18 February 2019

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has been revealed as the buyer of the small Rembrandt oil painting that led Sotheby’s Old Master evening sale in London at the end of last year after it went on view at the museum in the United Arab Emirates.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi

Unveiling of Salvator Mundi at Louvre Abu Dhabi delayed

04 September 2018

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism is postponing the unveiling of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ at The Louvre Abu Dhabi.

 Sumerian antiquities

Ancient antiquities seized from dealer returned to Iraq after British Museum research

10 August 2018

Eight Sumerian antiquities seized by the Metropolitan Police from a London dealer in 2003 are to be returned to Iraq after identification by the British Museum.

Egypt recovers Islamic manuscript spotted in Bonhams auction

09 August 2018

A rare Islamic manuscript consigned to a Bonhams auction in London has been returned to Egypt in the latest example of Egyptian authorities succeeding in retrieving artefacts from abroad.

Rubens

Rubens portrait begins world tour in Dubai as auctioneer hopes to tap into Middle Eastern Old Master demand

19 March 2018

Sotheby’s has chosen Dubai to unveil a Rubens painting it plans to offer later this summer in a bid to tap into the hoped-for demand for Old Master paintings in the Middle East.

Torso

Art Loss Register, New York’s district attorney and antiquities dealers team up to safeguard Lebanese sculptures

06 February 2018

Antiquities looted during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s are to go on display at the National Museum in Beirut after they were identified in Europe as stolen objects.

Saudi prince identified as buyer of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi as $450m painting heads to The Louvre Abu Dhabi

09 December 2017

A member of the Saudi royal family has been identified as the winning bidder of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi.

Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi

Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi heads to The Louvre Abu Dhabi

06 December 2017

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced on Twitter that Leonardo's Salvator Mundi is heading to the newly opened museum in the Middle East.

antiquity

Dealers arrested in Jerusalem over antiquities imported to US

04 August 2017

Five antiquities dealers were arrested by Israeli police in Jerusalem last week in connection with items that were illegally imported into the US by the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.

Egyptian

Recovering Egyptian artefacts from overseas is not in Egypt's favour, says its former antiquities minister

07 March 2017

Egypt’s former antiquities minister Mamdouh al-Damaty has called for a change of policy relating to Egyptian artefacts traded abroad.

Art Business Conference 2016

“I can’t hang my Picassos”: clarity over censorship needed for art market in Dubai

01 September 2016

A lack of clarity on issues of censorship is affecting Dubai’s role as a centre for the art market, delegates at the Art Business Conference heard today.

Russian claims of ISIS profits from looted antiquities ‘do not add up,’ dealer body says

08 April 2016

Russian allegations that ISIS is netting $150-$200m annually from the sale of looted Syrian and Iraqi antiquities have been dismissed by the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA).

Sotheby’s set up in Doha

20 October 2008

Sotheby’s have announced that they are to open an office in Doha and are planning a series of auctions in the Qatari capital in early 2009.

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