The Art Newspaper claims that Qatar is the single most important buyer in the Contemporary art market. “The small but energy-rich Gulf state of Qatar is the world’s biggest buyer in the art market—by value, at any rate,” says a story by Georgina Adam and Charlotte Burns. “And is behind most of the major modern and contemporary art deals over the past six years.”

More than that, the dealer Qatar uses most is former Christie’s Contemporary expert Philippe Ségalot who was responsible for brokering deals like the Sonnabend estate and the much-debated $63.4m purchase of Warhol’s The Men In Her Life during Ségalot’s Carte Blanche sale at Phillips de Pury.

According to The Art Newspaper’s calculations Qatar has spent more than $500 million on contemporary art during the boom years. If their guesses are correct that figure could be much closer to $1 billion.

Qatar Revealed As World’s Biggest Contemporary Art Buyer (The Art Newspaper)