Sculptural oasis: why the giants of art made for Jeddah

From Joan Miró to Jean Arp and Henry Moore, the Saudi city was a magnet for big names in art in the 1970s, as fascinating new book Sculptures of Jeddah shows

In the 21st century art is moving eastwards – literally – as masterpiece after masterpiece is sold to the oil-rich state Qatar, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi nears completion in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates. Huge and imaginative investments are turning these small wealthy nations on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula into the Manhattans of the middle east, brimming over with Cezannes and Gauguins and perhaps – although the rumours were denied – Picasso’s $179 million Women of Algiers (O).

But while Qatar and the UAE glitter with modernity, their neighbour Saudi Arabia seems mired in regressive ideas from the middle ages. It gets in the news for flogging the liberal blogger Raif Badawi, taking women to court for driving a car and nurturing the extreme Wahhabist religious ideology adopted by Isis.

Related: Sculptures in the sand

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