Gustave Courbet's ‘The Desperate Man’ emerges at Orsay after 20 years

Qatar has revealed itself as the owner of a famous self-portrait by French realist master Gustave Courbet and will loan the painting to Paris's Musee d'Orsay for five years, museum officials said on Monday.

"The Desperate Man" depicts Courbet with a wild-eyed stare looking out of the canvas in a work that is one of his best known alongside "The Stone Breakers" and "The Origin of the World".

It was exhibited in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2010 in a show devoted to the painter and was last seen in France in a major retrospective in 2007-2008 which also travelled to New York.

At this time, the painting belonged to an art investment fund of French bank BNP Paribas, but has since been acquired by Qatar Museums, a state body responsible for developing the art scene in the oil-rich emirate.

The Musee d'Orsay, which owns around 30 Courbet paintings, will exhibit "The Desperate Man" ("Le Désespéré") from Tuesday for five years before it transfers to its long-term home in Doha, the museum told AFP.

Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, head of Qatar Museums and sister of the Gulf state's Ruler, said the painting was destined for the Art Mill Museum and "will travel regularly between Doha and Paris in the future".

The Art Mill Museum in Doha is part of the emirate's plan to become a Middle Eastern art hub, with the vast complex designed by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena scheduled to open in 2030.

Sheikha Al Mayassa is one of the world's biggest contemporary art buyers, accumulating a multi-billion-dollar portfolio.

Agence France-Presse