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

　　What would the Warhol market look like without the handful of players that give it that extra umpfor at least make sure certain lots dont fail to sell? Mr Gagosian entered the Warhol market in the mid-1980s, and even gave the artist his last show. Mr Mugrabi first bought a Warhol shortly after the artist died in 1987 and has since accumulated some 800 works by him. Mr Cohen entered the market in the past decade, buying and selling at the very high end.

　　As a gallerist, Mr Gagosian occupies a slightly different place than the other Warhol aficionados. During this past week, 52% of all lots in Christies evening sale consisted of artists exhibited by Gagosian Gallery. At Sothebys this number was exactly half, whereas at Phillips the overlap with Gagosian was 46%.

　　Interestingly, the Warhol players often find themselves coming together around other artists. For example, lot 32 of Christies evening sale was Untitled by Urs Fischer, an artist collected by Mr Brant and Mr Cohen, and soon to be shown at Mr Gagosians Beverly Hills gallery. Consigned by the Mugrabis, the work sold for $6.8m, an astounding price for art by a 38-year-old, especially for a 17-tonne sculpture in need of electrification.

　　The Warhol market is intriguing. There is clearly genuine demand for the American Picasso. Yet the lots that are underbid by dealers or go from dealer-collector to dealer-collector inflate prices and create the appearance of trading volume in a way that is hard to track. And irrevocable bids often lead to public performances of private deals that are far more opaque than auction houses let on. Whatever the case, it would appear that collectors and dealers with an affinity for Warhol have a clear sense of the auction room as a marketing platform.