Qatar revealed as the world’s biggest contemporary art buyer.
The small but energy-rich Gulf state of Qatar is the world’s biggest buyer in the art market—by value, at any rate—and is behind most of the major modern and contemporary art deals over the past six years, The Art Newspaper can reveal.
Working through a number of advisors, as well as buying directly from dealers and at auction, Qatar is reliably believed to be building up a top-class collection of modern and contemporary art. Credit due to Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani — the 27-year-old daughter of the Emir of Qatar and a driving force behind the country’s art buying.
Among the purchases Qatar is believed to have made are:
• The “Merkin Rothkos”: A $310m deal saw 11 Rothkos sold by court order to an “unidentified buyer” in 2009. They came from the collection of financier J. Ezra Merkin, who is being sued in New York over his role as provider of funds to convicted Ponzi-scheme fraudster Bernard Madoff; the collection was the largest private holding of Rothkos in the world. They were subsequently exhibited at the Garage Centre in Moscow, leading to rumours that they had been bought by the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, which was strenuously denied. Two very well placed sources maintain that they have gone to Qatar.
• The Sonnabend estate: $400m worth of art from the estate of the famous art dealer, comprising major works by Lichtenstein and Koons. The deal was negotiated privately in 2007-08, going to GPS; multiple sources identified its client as Qatar.
• The Claude Berri dation: A group of nine works by Ryman, Reinhardt, Morandi, Serra and Fontana was promised to the Pompidou Centre in Paris in lieu of tax. But the heirs of the film director finally sold them for about €50m to Qatar; he did not deny this but said “the reality was less exotic than the French press said at the time”.
• Andy Warhol’s The Men in Her Life, 1962, which sold for $63.4m at Phillips de Pury in New York in November 2010, in a sale orchestrated by Philippe Ségalot. He insists that the work was acquired by a US buyer. But a source who bought regularly from Ségalot said that sales often went through his US company, so while the buyer was technically American, the end owner could be of any nationality.
US statistics indicate that cultural exports to Qatar totalled $428,162,894 in the period 2005 to April 2011, with a spike of $250.5m in 2007, the year Qatar bought the “Rockefeller” Rothko, White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose), 1950, for $72.8m. From 2005 to 2011 (first four months), Qatar imported £128,237,671 worth of paintings and antiques over 100 years old from the UK (over £21m for paintings and over £87.1m for antiques), according to trade statistics. Qatar bought Damien Hirst’s Lullaby Spring, 2002, for £9.2m at auction in London in 2007.
As well as these major acquisitions, Qatar has been buying widely at lower levels and in other fields. It spent £555,000 on William Hoare of Bath’sPortrait of Diallo, 1733, (export denied from the UK; on loan to the National Portrait Gallery, London), and $2.3m on Mahmoud Said’s Les Chadoufs, 1934 (now in Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha).
Homage to Yves Klein.
Takashi Murakami will be returning to Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin to show his latest collection of original works entitled Homage to Yves Klein. These new works are inspired by post-war European artist, Yves Klein, who was known for leading the Nouveau réalisme movement.
Nouveau réalisme (new realism) refers to an artistic movement founded in 1960 by the art critic Pierre Restany and the painter Yves Klein during the first collective exposition in the Apollinaire gallery in Milan. Pierre Restany wrote the original manifesto for the group, titled the "Constitutive Declaration of New Realism," in April 1960, proclaiming, "Nouveau Réalisme—new ways of perceiving the real."This joint declaration was signed on 27 October 1960, in Yves Klein's workshop, by nine people: Yves Klien, Arman, Martial Raysse, Pierre Restany,Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely and the Ultra-Lettrists, Francois Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Jacques de la Villeglé; in 1961 these were joined by César, Mimmo Rotella, then Niki de Saint Phalle and Gérard Deschamps.
The members of the nouveaux réalistes group tended to see the world as an image from which they could take parts and incorporate them into their works—as they sought to bring life and art closer together. They declared that they had come together on the basis of a new and real awareness of their "collective singularity", meaning that they were together in spite of, or perhaps because of, their differences. But for all the diversity of their plastic language, they perceived a common basis for their work; this being a method of direct appropriation of reality, equivalent, in the terms used by Pierre Restany, to a "poetic recycling of urban, industrial and advertising reality".
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These new art works are a departure from the usual super colorful and anime inspired paintings. The monochromatic paintings shows off rich textures and they are produced in various key tones. All of the works can be seen in real life from this Thursday, October 20th until next year, so there is no excuse for missing this if you are in Paris.
Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Three Women Activists from Liberia and Yemen
The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 was awarded jointly to three champions of women’s rights: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman. The women were rewarded “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work,” according to a Nobel Committee.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said they hoped that by recognizing the efforts of these women, they would “help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.”
Ellen Johnson Sirleafis, of Liberia, is Africa’s first democratically elected female president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has pushed forward with peace efforts in Liberia based on promoting economic and social development led in part by women.Leymah Gbowee mobilized women across divided ethnic and religious lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure that women were allowed to participate in elections. She has since worked to enhance the influence of women since the end of the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.Tawakkul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s right, democracy, and peace in Yemen.
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 10 million trees. She was the first woman in central or eastern Africa to hold a Ph.D., the first woman head of a university department in Kenya, and the very first African woman to win the Nobel Prize in Peace.
"Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression—nationally and internationally. She has served as inspiration for many in the fight for democratic rights and has especially encouraged women to better their situation. ”—The Norwegian Nobel Committee, in a statement announcing her as the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Maathai was one of the founders of The Nobel Women's Initiative along with sister Nobel Peace laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said:
“Professor Maathai introduced the idea of women planting trees in Kenya to reduce poverty and conserve the environment,” in a statement.
“At last count, the Green Belt Movement she helped to found had assisted women to plant more than 40 million trees. She understood and acted on the inextricable links between poverty, rights and environmental sustainability. One can but marvel at her foresight and the scope of her success. She was a true African heroine,” the statement continued.
“Our condolences go to Professor Maathai’s family, to the people of Kenya, and to the countless women (and men) across Africa and the world to whom she was an inspiration.”
(1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011)
Once a plane...
The house uses parts of a decommissioned Boeing 747. Costing less than $50,000 the reclaimed plane has been dismantled and transported to the site, where almost all of the parts have been reused as a way of being economical. Prefabricated parts were also utilized to minimize onsite construction costs.
An engine cowling here is used as a fire pit.
Besides the extensive use of reclaimed materials, the Wing House also employs solar power, radiant heating, natural ventilation and high performance heat mirror glazing. With views of the Malibu mountains, the Pacific Ocean and the islands in the distance, the 747 Wing House is a sight to behold. Located on a ridge, evening views of the home at sunset recall the same sort of view that one would see while flying in a plane as the sun goes down.
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal & The Baker
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah Ta'ala be pleased with him, was once traveling and needed to stay somewhere overnight. When he went to the mosque, the guard (not recognizing Imam Ahmed) denied him entrance. Imam Ahmed insisted on his right, yet he was refused. Frustrated, Imam Ahmed resolved to spend the night on the mosque's front porch/yard. The guard became furious and dragged him away, despite his old age and frailty.
A baker, whose shop was nearby, watched this scene and took pity on Ibn Hanbal and offered the great scholar food and a place to sleep. He watched as the baker mixed and kneaded the dough, tended the fire, and pulled hot loves from the oven, all the while uttering remembrances of Allah and istighfar (asking for Allah's forgiveness). Finally, Ibn Hanbal asked the pious baker what inspired him so. The baker responded it had become like second nature saying he did as he did in thanks to Allah who had answered all his prayers. All save one.
When Ibn Hanbal asked what that unanswered prayer was, the baker responded: "To see the famed Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal." At this, tears came to Ibn Hanbal's eyes and he told the baker, "I am Ahmed ibn Hanbal!". He then went on to add, "By Allah! I was thrown from the mosque to meet you."
Source: Al Jumuah, Vol 22, Issue 12, Page 33
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