Billionaire Qatari sheikh 'identified' as secret buyer of world record Picasso

卡塔尔酋长1.794亿美元拍下毕加索世界名画

Billionaire Qatari sheikh 'identified' as secret buyer of world record Picasso

A billionaire Qatari sheikh dubbed "the man who bought London" was reportedly the anonymous bidder who snapped up a Pablo Picasso masterpiece that smashed the world auction sale record.

一个被冠以"能买下伦敦的人"称号的亿万富翁卡塔尔酋长是拍下巴勃罗·毕加索名画的神秘买主,这次交易创下了世界拍卖行的新记录.

There has been intense speculation about the identity of the buyer who placed the winning $179.4 million (￡116 million) telephone bid for Les Femmes d'Alger at Christie's in Manhattan earlier this month.

对于这位通过电话竞标,于本月初在曼哈顿克利斯蒂拍卖行以1.794亿美元（合计1.16亿欧元）拍下《阿尔及利亚女人》的买主,外界一直在猜测其身份.

Art world sources have now told the New York Postthat the painting was acquired by Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former Qatari prime minister.

"艺术世界来源"告诉《纽约邮报》：该油画被贾西姆·阿勒萨尼收入囊中.他是卡塔尔前外交部长.

Qatar's ruling Al Thani clan has been pursuing an international artwork buying spree as it aims to turn the small energy-rich emirate into a global cultural power ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

统治卡塔尔的阿勒萨尼家族近来狂热收购世界艺术名作,打算在2022年世界杯前夕将这个能源富足的小酋长国打造成国际文化强国.

But Les Femmes d'Alger may never be displayed publicly in Qatar to avoid offending Islamic sensibilities because it depicts women's breasts, even though they were painted in the artist's highly stylised cubist form.

但是,为避免伊斯兰敏感话题,《阿尔及利亚女人》在卡塔尔可能永远不会被公开展示.因为油画中有女人的胸部,尽管艺术形式是高度抽象的立体画.

It could instead remain at one of the sheikh's multi-million pound homes in London or New York, the newspaper reported.

据报道,该幅名画可能就保存在这位酋长位于伦敦或纽约的百万豪宅中.

The Anglophile royal earned the nickname of the "man who bought London" after going on a buying spree in the city with his personal fortune and as head of the Qatar Investment Authority.

作为卡塔尔投资局局长,在伦敦用其私人财产疯购名作后,这位亲英派的酋长皇族成员获得了"能买下伦敦的人"的昵称.

The state agency invested in Harrod's, the London Shard, Sainsbury's, Barclays and the Stock Exchange, while the Anglophile royal bought three apartments in the One Hyde Park development.

卡塔尔国家机关还投资了哈罗德百货公司、伦敦碎片大厦、塞恩斯伯里超市、巴克莱银行和英国证券交易所,而这位酋长国皇室成员则单独买下了海德公园一号的三座公寓.

He is also currently renovating a mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side that he bought for $47 million in 2012.

最近他还翻修了曼哈顿上东城的一座公馆.该公馆是他在2012年以4700万美元买下的.

Members of the royal family have used their oil and gas wealth to buy several masterpieces in recent years. Some were bought for private collections while others were acquired for a new national museum that will show off its art treasures when it opens next year.

近年来,不少卡塔尔皇室家族成员使用本国的石油和天然气财富购买了名作.有的作为私人收藏,其它的作为新国家博物馆的收藏,一年后开馆时其艺术珍宝可令人大开眼界.

Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad al-Thani, the sister of Qatar's emir, was initially reported to have been the buyerof the artwork that was previously the most expensive sold at auction a Francis Bacon triptychthat went under the hammer for $142 million in 2013.

梅萨公主是卡塔尔埃米尔的妹妹,弗朗西斯·培根的一副三联画在2013年以1.42亿美元卖出,成为当时该拍卖行有史以来最贵艺术品.最初媒体报道梅萨公主是该艺术品的买主.

But art world sources later said that the buyer who has not been officially identified was Elaine Wynn, the co-founder of a Las Vegas casino empire.

但"艺术世界来源"后来发表声明,称非官方证实的买主其实是伊莲·怀恩——拉斯维加斯皇家赌场的联合创始人.

Sheikha Mayassa, then head of the Qatar Museums Authority, previously bought "The Card Players" by Paul Cezanne last year for a reported $250 million in a private sale the highest-price paid for a painting at the time. Her family has also spent heavily on works by Mark Rothko, Richard Serra, Roy Lichtenstein, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.

据报道,作为卡塔尔博物馆馆长的梅萨公主,去年从一个私人收藏家手里以2.5亿美元的创纪录高价买下保罗·塞尚的名作《玩纸牌的人》.她的家人同时还重金购买了马克·罗斯科、理查德·塞拉、李奇登斯坦、弗朗西斯培根、安迪·沃霍尔和杰夫·昆斯等名家的画作.

There was also speculation that the buyer of the Picasso this month might have been Asian as money from that continent, notably China, fuelled a record-breaking week of sales of nearly $2 billionat Christie's and Sotheby's in New York.

曾经有推测表示,本月这幅毕加索的名画可能是一名亚裔人士购买的,因为从亚洲,尤其是中国汇出的钱款创下了克利斯蒂拍卖行和纽约索斯比拍卖行一周近20亿美元交易的新纪录.

The Qatar embassy did not reply to a request for comment and the government rarely discusses the purchases of its ruling royals.

卡塔尔大使馆没有作出相关回应,该国政府也很少讨论其统治家族的购买行为.