The (Faux) Art Lover

Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhanal-Saud, 48

Prince Bader was revealed last week to be the world’s biggest art connoisseur — a title he held for all of 24 hours.

The art world buzzed for weeks after “Salvator Mundi,” a rare painting by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci was auctioned to an anonymous bidder in November for an eye-popping $450.3 million — the priciest artwork ever sold. On Wednesday, Bader, a relatively modest member of the Saudi royal family, was outed as the masterpiece’s new owner by The New York Times.

One day later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bader had bid on the painting only as a proxy for his ally, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a fact that was confirmed by US intelligence services. But on Friday, the government of neighboring Abu Dhabi insisted that Bader had acted as its agent to acquire the work for display in the country’s flashy new Louvre museum.

The intrigue unveiled the prince as a major player in the region’s highest political circles. Despite Bader’s formerly low profile, he has made a name for himself in media as the head of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group. Recently, he announced a partnership with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to launch Bloomberg Al-Arabiya — a radio, TV, digital and print news outlet.