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In the wake of the record breaking $450 million sale of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi in late 2017, John Wilson explores how and why the rivalry amongst oil rich states in the Middle East is inflating market prices and what the ramifications might be for the art world.

Qatar’s cultural awakening began a decade ago, when it launched its National Vision 2030. The Qatari ruling family, led by ‘culture queen’ Sheikha Mayassa, spent a billion dollars on art in attempt to establish itself as the player in the modern art scene. In 2016 Saudi Arabia launched its own Vision 2030 plan, with a similar focus on arts and culture. In May 2017 the United Arab Emirates launched its ‘Soft Power Council’ and immediately spent a fortune to acquire the Louvre branding for its new museum in Abu Dhabi.

The growing rivalry has already had a huge influence on the world of football with the deputy Prime Minister of the UAE buying Manchester City in 2010 and a Qatari business man purchasing Paris St Germain a year later. Those two clubs have spent in excess of two billion dollars on transfers in the last eight years – including PSG’s acquisition of Neymar for more than double the previous transfer record.

But the Mundi purchase has taken things to new extremes. The purchase price was 45,000 times what it was sold for a decade ago.

John travels to Qatar to talk to leading figures in the country’s art scene and he hears from other influential figures in other parts of the region.

Produced by Ben Carter and Namir Shabibi