The Qatari royal family is known as a wealthy royal family with assets worth about 335 billion USD. One of their most valuable assets is their art collection. It is estimated that the royal family spends more than 600 million pounds a year to invest in paintings, sculptures... and bring them to Qatar to decorate museums.
Principess Sheikha Al Mayassa Al Thani is the person behind the operation and management of this world-class art collection.
Miss Mayassa is currently the President of the Qatar Arts Agency, managing a collection of about 800 works. Sheikha used to spend a lot of money on art, with a budget of about one billion USD per year to purchase works.
Mayassa's reputation skyrocketed when Vanity Fair magazine reported that she represented Qatar to pay 250 million USD (6.1 trillion VND) for the "The Card Game" of the famous Cezanne in a secret deal in 2011. Oil painting was born in 1890, depicting two men from Aix-en- Provence (France) sitting playing cards.
The work is a perfect combination of grammar and art. Artists use colors to analyze subjects, shapes and combinations
According to the Telegraph, Mayassa was also the secret buyer who paid $142.4 million for Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Trump" at Christie's New York in November 2013.
Art news said the press's records hardly exist in art dealers. Mayassa did not visit the galleries, nor appeared in auctions or related activities. She entrusted her purchases to a number of experienced art consultants such as Philippe Segalot, Franck Giraud and Guy Bennett.
Although a powerful woman, princess Mayassa is said to be a very simple person, often seen wearing sneakers behind the abaya outfit. Mayassa graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science and literature from Duke University, USA.
She is also known as the founder of reached Out To Asia, a non-governmental organization that focuses on helping victims of natural disasters in Asia. Mayassa is married and has 5 children, but details about the princess's personal life are always kept confidential.
