Why Qatar's Art Buying Spree Could Inflate the Price of Paintings

The World

How much is too much to spend on art?

That's not a question the royal family of QATAR seems to be asking itself.

Last year, the "Qatar Museums Authority" purchased Paul Cezanne's "Card Players" for 250 million dollars.

That's the highest known price ever paid for a painting.

Other Q-M-A purchases included paying more than 70 million for a Mark Rothko painting.

Some experts worry the high prices the tiny Persian Gulf emirate is willing to pay will cause a global escalation in art prices.

David Ross is co-founder of the Artist Pension Trust, and a former director of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

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