The steps Qatar has taken to pursue its “conquest of the art market,” and its plans for the future, are being told by its search history, which has been meticulously detailed by international art databank ArtPrice.

Included in the revelations, which come ahead of ArtPrice’s November release of an extensive study on the global museum scene:

• Qatar unsuccessfully tried to buy Christie’s auction house and “is still seeking to acquire one or more international auction operators;”

• That Qatar most certainly bought Paul Cezanne’s The Card Players for $250 million – the most paid for a piece of auctioned art ever – based on data requests from the country;

• Mathaf is delving into the young Arab artist scene, whose works in Europe and North America are becoming more valuable thanks to Qatari purchases.

The conclusions are derived from an analyis of hundreds of thousands of data searches from ArtPrice’s Qatar-based subscribers, including the Qatar Museum Authority, Mathaf Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art, and the National Museum of Qatar.

The main takeaway is that Qatar’s strategic purchases have put it on the global art map.

Art Media Agency reports:

Qatar is investing in the art market and is about to become one of its main players. For this Qatar adopted a strategy: to bid higher and higher…Qatar always bids 40 to 45% higher than the established quotation, a sure way to always win the desired artwork.

Qatar… has surrounded itself with international experts, advising the purchases and preventing possible mistakes. The country is thus in search of artworks estimated beyond €100,000, mainly modern and contemporary, being less interested in Western ancient art.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Christine und Hagen Graf