Agence France Presse is excited by the prospect of finding out who has been bidding up works of Arab modern art. The agency covered the opening of Qatar’s Mathaf by pointing out that it displays works that were previously the subject of much speculation:
“We want Arab modern art to be recognised internationally,” the museum’s director Wassan al-Khudairi told AFP.
Sheikh Hassan Al-Thani, a member of the Gulf state’s ruling family, donated his collection, which totals some 6,200 pieces, to the Qatar Foundation and the Qatar Museums Authority, which jointly established Mathaf.
Among the hundreds of works acquired at full price by anonymous buyers at Christie’s or Bonhams auctions in Dubai is a painting by Egyptian master Mahmoud Said (1897-1964) which sold at an April 2010 auction for 2.43 million dollars.
