More than $70 million for Rothko’s “White Center†in 2007, a high-water mark for that artist.More than $20 million later that year for a Damien Hirst pill cabinet, then a record for a living artist.And $250 million for Cézanne’s “Card Players†in 2011, the highest known price ever paid for a painting.Given the secrecy of the art market, few knew at the time who had laid out such unprecedented sums.But it has become increasingly clear that those masterpieces and many more have been purchased by Qatar, a tiny Persian Gulf country with enormous wealth and cultural ambitions to match: it is buying art at a level never seen before.
via Qatari Riches Are Buying Art World Influence – NYTimes.com.