雅思阅读文章：The wizards of the Warhol market_雅思英语阅读

雅思阅读文章：The wizards of the Warhol market

　　The top lot at Sothebys was again a Warhol, although one that was neither much coveted nor guaranteed. Sixteen Jackies is a posthumous compilation of small 1964 portraits of Jackie Kennedy, 15 of which came out of Warhols estate. Although the work has the benefits of celebrity, death and repetition, Jackie is a very American icon and the arrangement of canvases is awkward. They were put together by Peter Brant, its consignor, with advice from Jeff Koons, an artist with a good eye for old masters but a poor track record in curating contemporary art.

　　Mr Brant is a key player in the Warhol market. He began collecting the artist in the 1960s and was responsible for the very first appearance of an important Warhol at auction in 1970, when he consigned Soup can with peeling label to Sothebys Parke-Bernet. The work sold for a record price of $60,000 to Bruno Bischofberger, a Warhol dealer and friend of Mr Brant. At the time, the press reported that the lot was bid up to establish a higher market level.

　　Sixteen Jackies sold at the low end of its estimate for $20m to an anonymous phone bidder. However, Mr Mugrabi, said to have a huge inventory of Jackie paintings, was the direct underbidder. Mr Mugrabi and his sons also underbid two other Warhols at Sothebys and bought two Warhol paintings at Christies, including a red version of his 1986 self-portrait, known as a fright wig, for $27.5m. In any given contemporary auction week, a fair number of the Warhols will have been either consigned, underbid or bought by the Mugrabi family, sometimes in partnership with Larry Gagosian .