Is Roman the mystery buyer of Freud and Bacon works?

Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea Football Club, appears to have found a new pastime ­ collecting contemporary art. According to the Art Newspaper, it was Abramovich who paid the record-breaking prices, totalling £60m, for works by British artists Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud at auctions in New York last week.

Although the Russian tycoon was not seen at either auction - like most wealthy collectors he would have bid by telephone - art world insiders are convinced he was the mystery buyer of Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, which went for £17m, and Bacon's Triptych (1976), which achieved £43m.

Cristina Ruiz, editor of the Art Newspaper, said: "Abramovich is now said to be the buyer of both these paintings and I'm very impressed by his choices. He has gone in at the highest level, but these are good purchases and I think they will retain their price." (Continued below)

She added: "Abramovich appears to be completely new to the market. It's very interesting because the power in the art world is shifting from European and American collectors who are selling to Russian and Middle Eastern collectors."

Abramovich's new-found interest appears to have been sparked by his girlfriend, Daria 'Dasha' Zhukova, 26 (pictured above with Abramovich), who, as The First Post reported last week, is opening a gallery in the heart of Moscow this summer, assisted by British socialite Molly Dent-Brocklehurst.