Picasso Auction: Qatar’s Al Thani was that secret buyer

 London

 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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