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Qatari emir's sister named most powerful figure in art world

Arab World Materials 24 October 2013 15:50 (UTC +04:00)
The sister of the Qatari emir was on Thursday named the most powerful figure in the world of art, due to the spending power of the country's museums authority which she heads
Qatari emir's sister named most powerful figure in art world

The sister of the Qatari emir was on Thursday named the most powerful figure in the world of art, due to the spending power of the country's museums authority which she heads, dpa reported.

Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani topped the Power 100 put together by the international art magazine Art Review. She only entered the chart at number 90 in 2011.

The magazine said the Qatar Museums Authority spends around 1 billion dollars per year on art, adding that this was 30 times more than New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) spent.

In 2012 the authority paid a record-breaking 250 million dollars for a version of Cezanne's The Card Players, making it the most expensive painting ever sold.

"If and when Doha finds it has bought enough art, there's going to be a hole in the market that no one else can fill," said the magazine.

David Zwirner, an art dealer who owns galleries in New York and London, came second on the list, while Swiss dealer Iwan Wirth came third.

Chinese artise Ai Weiwei, who headed the list in 2011, came in at seventh place.

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