What 3 Local Tastemakers Are Bidding On in the Upcoming Origins II Auction
Ahead of our 2nd annual sale in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, we asked a few regional creatives to pick their favorite pieces.
W hen an auction features works that transcend borders, cultures and genres,picking a favorite or standout piece is challenging . While one collector may be drawn to the bold abstraction of Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, for example, another may be dazzled by the energizing hues of an Andy Warhol silkscreen. So where to begin with identifying the highlights?
Returning to Saudi Arabia for the second iteration of its historic Origins sale in the historic site of Diriyah, the home of the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sotheby’s will offer a unique collection of art and objects to a region that continues to inspire us. Ahead of the event, which will be preceded by a public exhibition from 24-31 January, we speak to a few Saudi creatives and asked them to predict which pieces might leave the most lasting impression on the market they know best.
Her Royal Highness Princess Anoud Khalid Mishaal Bin Saud, Interior Designer
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f HRH Princess Anoud Khalid Mishaal bin Saud has one piece of advice for her interior design clients, it’s to just buy the art. “It’s going to find its place,” she insists. “You work around the art piece!” Princess Anoud founded her Riyadh-based firm, A Interiors, in 2015, and has been designing homes in the region ever since. She famously prefers mood boards over 3D renderings, which allow her to foster intimate environments that accentuate the souls of her clients. A Interiors design moments around standout pieces that come with a story. Her own home features works from Egypt’s Mohammed Ismail and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Alajlan and more—the designer herself lives among anecdotes in every corner.
Pablo Picasso, Femme du barbu
As soon as Princess Anoud saw this charming ceramic, she felt something. “In general with art, it’s a feeling,” she explains of her emotionally driven approach to collecting and curating. “When I look at a piece, I love that even if it’s within chaos, I would still gravitate towards it.” And while this Picasso pitcher quite literally fits that mold, she wouldn’t style anything around it if finding a place for it in her home, or that of a client. “It needs to be a focal point,” she says. “I would want it to shine.”
Jean Dubuffet, Le soleil les décolore
Princess Anoud’s aesthetic is grounded in earthy tones and natural materials, so it is no surprise that she was drawn to this Dubuffet, which he painted after his first trip to the Sahara, aiming to capture the desert’s beguiling serenity. “I love that it's dark and moody,” she says. “It can set the tone for an interior.” The piece reminds her of “Portal,” the space she and her team designed for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. “The walls were dark and we kept the original frescoes of the palazzo showing. It was a very similar color scheme,” she says. “It makes me calm.”
Wendell Castle, "Crossroads"
Princess Anoud always encourages her clients to embrace a sense of personality in their vision, and this whimsical sculpture by the rule-bending designer Wendell Castle is exactly the kind of special find she is talking about. Her favorite projects, after all, are the ones that begin with a statement object around which everything else can orbit. “I love that this is a piece of furniture. It could be in the entryway of a house,” she says of the compelling wooden chair. “And it’s something that sparks a conversation. You want to know more about it.”
Mohamed Siam, Untitled (Camel Race)
The princess was thrilled to see Saudi artist Mohamed Siam amongst the sale lots, having become familiar with his work after he was included in the Al-Mansouria Foundation’s collection—established to support creativity in the kingdom. In addition to this piece’s warm colors, she was attracted to its geometry and the use of patterns reminiscent of arabesque architecture. Its most exciting feature, however, is its orientation: “Even though there is a right way up, I feel like no matter how you place it, you could see it in a different way, if you turn it upside down or to the right or to the left,” she says. “It’s like this is what you see when you look into a prism.”
Alaa Balkhy, Brand Consultant
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iving between New York City and her hometown of Jeddah, cultural consultant Alaa Balkhy has a unique perspective on the fast-evolving creative scene in Saudi Arabia. “I graduated [from Dar Al-Hekma University] as a graphic designer in 2011 when there was an art scene, but it was taking a nap.” After getting her master’s from Pratt in Design Management, Balkhy was well positioned to help brands headquartered in Europe and United States like Jean Paul Gaultier Fragrances and Assouline engage meaningfully with the increasingly active Saudi market. Now, as a contributor for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, she’s able to share her musings on art and fashion with a wider audience. “Whether it’s media, film, photography, sculptures—I want to see Saudi brands and artists integrated with fashion on a global scale.”
Safeya Binzagr, Coffee Shop in Madina Road
Balkhy’s personal connection to Binzagr goes beyond the fact that they are both from Jeddah, and that she was in the same social circle as the artist’s nieces and nephews. Balkhy has long admired Binzagr’s illustrations of Saudi clothing from different regions of the kingdom, and she was moved to encounter a female talent bringing familiar scenes from her own upbringing to the canvas. “Everything she creates comes from her memories, from my culture, where I'm from. It’s amazing to see that in art,” she says. “Not a lot of work talks to us as Saudi women, so the ones that do are so important.”
Abdelrahim Radwi, Untitled (Hajj Arafah)
“Because this is hajj, I think it’s something people will love,” says Balkhy of Radwi’s portrayal of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. Jeddah serves as the gateway to this holy site, and Balkhy predicts that the piece will carry the same beauty and significance for many other Saudi nationals as it does for her. As for where she would put it? “It’s an interesting piece to have in my apartment in New York, which looks very much like my grandma’s home.” Nostalgia, she says, is a huge part of how we curate our spaces, especially for those who live far away from their hometown and want to take a piece of it with them.
Roy Lichtenstein, Water Lilies - Pink Flower
In keeping with this bicultural theme, Balkhy is equally intrigued by pieces that allow her to take a bit of New York back to Saudi. “I think it would be interesting to have a Jeddah-born artist in New York, and a New York-born artist in Jeddah,” she says, highlighting the work of Roy Lichtenstein, famously a Manhattanite. Despite wanting to become an artist, Balkhy took what she describes as a more realistic path, training as a graphic designer, and she remembers doing a typography project that referenced Lichtenstein’s work. “I really was inspired by so many artists [like him].”
Nojoud Alrumaihi, Brand Consultant
I n the three years since the launch of Ci Consultancy, founder Nojoud Alrumaihi has been, in a word, busy. She started working in the fashion industry ten years ago after studying International Marketing at Kings College in London. When she began receiving more professional requests to help navigate the Saudi market, the entrepreneur decided it was time to strike out on her own, offering high-end communication and PR services for brands seeking to gain access to the region. Her team has since worked with the likes of Mercedes, Sephora, Chopard, and Repossi, launching retail and event concepts as well as engaging local artists like Rashed Al-Shashai in creative workshops and partnerships. “Saudi is offering a landscape to artists from all over the world to create immersive experiences,” she says, citing the Noor Riyadh light art festival and the Diriyah Biennale as examples. “Even the general taste of people [locally] is changing and evolving as a result.”
James Turrell, Origen
Alrumaihi has been a fan of James Turrell’s light installations since visiting one at the Patina Maldives. “I think his work is way more beautiful when you see it in real life, and owning something by him is super iconic and timeless,” she asserts. She believes Turrell’s popularity will only appreciate. For this reason, “you can always keep this as an investment or as an heirloom. I think it’s very interesting because it’s simple, but I’m sure it carries a lot of depth when you see it in person.”
Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Ajax (Study)
It took Alrumaihi nearly ten minutes to fully take in this Lichtenstein piece, commissioned by fashion designer Gianni Versace. But you don’t even need to know this backstory to be captivated by the vibrant colors and bold graphic details. “It’s so full of life and interesting to look at,” she shares. “My house is very colorful now and I’m really over minimalist aesthetics, just because that tends to become repetitive. I always prefer having something like this, that brings life to a space.” The consultant can also envision the piece anywhere from a hotel to a private office, adding beauty to wherever it lands.
Pablo Picasso, Paysage
“This is definitely a collector’s piece,” Alrumaihi remarks as she pictures it being acquired and displayed in “a high-end space where it would be safe, probably a very secured private office,” or within the collection of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture. The details of the painting—how it looks like a city but everything is connected, the color and spacing between houses and trees, the effort of Picasso to bring to life a place that is, for some unknown reason, special to him—are what she believes will appeal to a growing number of people in the region interested in understanding, collecting, and investing in art.
