Here they are: the big spenders

The top spender on art in the world, Sheik Saud al Thani of Qatar, shelled out several hundred million dollars during the last few years, according to ARTnews. The magazine’s annual list of top art collectors is in its summer issue, which will be on newsstands Friday.

A few Angelenos made the list, including (in alphabetical order) Edythe and Eli Broad, David Geffen, Audrey Irmas, Peter Norton, Michael Ovitz (who’s new), Etsuko and Joe D. Price, Beth Swofford and Dean Valentine.

Of the 200 top collectors, more than half live in the United States, with New York being home to most. This year’s Top 10, also alphabetically, are Edythe and Eli Broad, Connecticut-based Steven Cohen, San Francisco’s Doris and Donald Fisher, the London-based jeweler Lawrence Graff, Ronnie and Samuel Heyman of New York, Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis of New York, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder of New York, and Mitchell Rales of Potomac, Md.

Familiar names on the list also include Paul Allen, David Bowie, the sultan of Brunei, Melinda and Bill Gates, Elton John, Ronald O. Perelman, and Louise and Leonard Riggio. According to the magazine, the most popular area of collecting at the moment is contemporary art.

-- Louise Roug