By Birkin, Banksy and Rembrandt at Abu Dhabi Collectors Week
One of the only four Birkin handbags, ever owned by actress Jane Birkin, Banksy’s iconic Shredded Girl Without Balloon, Rembrandt’s masterpiece Young Lion Resting, will all soon be part of a luxury auction-cum-exhibition for the first time ever in the Middle East at the Abu Dhabi Collectors Week. To be held at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi from December 2 to 5, 2025, the Abu Dhabi Collectors week helmed by Sotheby’s in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will unveil over $ 150 billion worth of luxury items and fine art, in an exclusive programme that includes auctions, masterclasses, panel discussions and exhibitions.
Expect collectible jewellery, watches, handbags, cars and even real estate, a major fine art exhibition, panel talks featuring leading luminaries. Each item is unique, rare and a masterpiece in itself. Le Voyageur, Jane Birkin’s handbag, for instance, is a one-of-a-kind black Birkin, gifted to the actress by Hermes, personally inscribed and deeply worn by the actress after she sold her beloved original Birkin, the prototype. The bag to be part of the auction, on December 5, 2025, is estimated at a value of $240,000 to $440,000.
Rembrandt’s Young Lion Resting
Sotheby’s will also bring to Abu Dhabi a coveted masterpiece by Dutch art legend Rembrandt van Rijn — Young Lion Resting — a fine and powerful artwork by the artist to have come to an auction in half a century, executed circa 1638 to 1642, the drawing unites the two aspects of Rembrandt’s genius that define his artistic legacy, his ability to understand and convey the beauty and movement of the natural world and his gift for capturing the soul and personality of his sitters.
Fine Art Retrospective
Visitors to the four day event will also have the opportunity to experience a special retrospective non-selling exhibition of some of the most high-profile and important works of art and objects sold by Sotheby’s over the last six decades. These include: Banksy’s self-shredding, re-titled Girl Without Balloon, the artwork that famously shredded itself in 2018 moments after the hammer fell at an auction, turning a live sale into a viral global spectacle; the work was resold in 2021 for $25.4 million, setting the current auction record for Banksy. Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), believed to be the artist’s final portrait – a luminous and captivating depiction of an unnamed woman which captured global attention in 2023 when it sold for $108.4 million, becoming the most valuable work of art ever sold at auction in Europe. Piet Mondrian’s Composition No. II, a masterwork from 1930 encapsulating the pinnacle of the artist’s signature abstract geometric compositions, sold in 2022 for $51 million, an auction record for the artist. When the painting was sold at auction in 1983, it achieved the highest price ever paid at the time for a work by Mondrian and for a work of abstract art at an auction.
Other exclusive luxury collectibles up for auction include The Desert Rose, a vivid orange-pink diamond (est. $5 to 7 million), the first complete set of Patek Philippe Star Caliber 2000 ever to be offered at an auction (est. $10 to 20 million), four rare, high-performance bicycles from the legendary Italian manufacturer and four-time Tour de France winner, Colnago, and two extraordinary properties, one in the French Rivera, the other designed by celebrated architect Zaha Hadid in Austria.
“For our inaugural collectors’ week in Abu Dhabi, we have assembled an unprecedented suite of offerings across our luxury portfolio and collaborated with some of the world’s leading brands. Our aim is not only to present world-class treasures at auctions, but also to build lasting connections with collectors in the region through talks, masterclasses and a museum-quality exhibition of artworks from around the world. Abu Dhabi’s rapidly expanding cultural landscape, driven by a young and growing collector base and supported by ambitious long-term development plans is fostering a vibrant art and luxury community. This momentum aligns perfectly with Sotheby’s vision, and we’re thrilled to begin our next chapter of expansion with Abu Dhabi at its heart,” said Josh Pullan, Global Head of Sotheby’s Luxury Division.