“IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE" -ANDY WARHOL

Two days, two modern art masterpieces, two record-breaking auction prices -- and one buyer: billionaire Roman Abramovich.A respected art publication says London-based Abramovich was the anonymous buyer of Francis Bacon's "Triptych" and Lucian Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping," which sold at separate New York auctions last week for a total of $120 million.Abramovich represents a new breed of superrich collector from emerging economies such as China, the Middle East -- and, especially, Russia -- that is buoying the art market through tough economic times.

-Moscow Times
May 27 2008