Jose Mugrabi

Last updated
Jose Mugrabi
Born1939 (age 84–85)
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
NationalityIsraeli
Occupation(s)Industrialist and art collector
Known forOwner of 800 Andy Warhol artworks
SpouseMary
Children2 sons

Jose Mugrabi (born 1939) is an Israeli businessman and art collector of Syrian descent. [1] With a family net worth estimated at $5 billion, [2] [3] he is the leading collector of Andy Warhol, with 800 artworks.

Contents

Biography

Yosef "Jose" Mugrabi was born to a Syrian-Jewish family in Jerusalem. He grew up in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood. His family managed a grocery store in Nahalat Ahim. [1] They have two sons, Alberto "Tico" Mugrabi and David Mugrabi. [4] [5]

In September 2016, Alberto married Colby Jordan, daughter of investor Jay W. Jordan II, at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France. [6] [7] [8]

Mugrabi lives with his wife Mary in Trump Tower in New York City. His three sisters live in Israel. [9]

Business career

At the age of 16, Mugrabi went to Colombia to stay with relatives, and became involved in the textile business. Starting as an errand boy, he became one of the country's major importers. [10] In 1982, he moved to New York, where he met art dealer Jeffrey Deitch and began collecting art. [1]

Art collection

Mugrabi owned the world's largest collection of paintings by Andy Warhol, which are now owned by his sons. [11] His art collection included works by Renoir, Picasso, Rodin, Ernst, Daumier, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Jean-Michel Basquiat in addition to 800 Warhols. [11] [12] He also owned the largest collection of Philippe Pasqua's paintings. [13] The Mugrabi art is stored in Zurich and near Newark, New Jersey. [4]

Mugrabi's first purchase was a Renoir landscape, bought in 1982 for $121,000 on the advice of Deitch. [14] The Mugrabis say they base their collecting model on Charles Saatchi, although he purchased multiple works of many artists and the Mugrabis collect only a preferred few. [15]

In 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported on how the Mugrabis were said by several art dealers to be "doing whatever they can to keep Warhol prices high, including occasionally overpaying – or overcharging – for the artworks." [4]

In November 1988, at Sotheby's in New York, Mugrabi set a new world record for Warhol's work when he purchased Marilyn Monroe (Twenty Times) for $3.96 million. [16] [17] In 2008, he bought Warhol's Detail of the Last Supper (Christ 112 Times) (1986) for $9.5 million. [18] He purchased Warhol’s Men in Her Life (1962), a painting based on an image of a young Elizabeth Taylor between husbands, for $63.3 million in 2010, the second-highest price paid for a Warhol at the time. [19] At a 2012 Sotheby's auction, he acquired Warhol's Double Elvis (Ferus Type) (1963) for $33 million. [20]

At a Christie's auction in 2013, he sold Coca-Cola (3) (1962) to Alice L. Walton for $57.2 million. [21]

In 2013, Mugrabi set a record for the most expensive work by a living artist, when he paid $58.4 million for Jeff Koons’s Balloon Dog (Orange) from Peter M. Brant's collection at Christie’s. [22] [23]

In February 2020, he lent items from his Koons collection to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art for the "Absolute Value" exhibition, which runs to October 2020. [24]

Losing to Madoff

The Mugrabis, who live in New York, were investors in a Bernard Madoff fund and lost money as a result. [25]

The fund was backed by loans from banks including Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Nomura Holdings, which invested about $304 million."We had very little money with the fund – just under a million dollars – so I am not that upset personally," said Mugrabi's son Albert. "It was a very informal thing. We know Andrés (Piedrahita) since forever, from Bogotá, he’s a great guy, and he says to us, ‘This is the Madoff thing, he’s the master.’ I trusted Andrés. I still trust him." [26]

Family

Jose's son David Mugrabi is set to inherit many of his father's art pieces, from Warhol to Basquiat. In 2018 David divorced socialite Libbie Mugrabi, the feud was written about in the New York Times .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Warhol</span> American artist, film director, and producer (1928–1987)

Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, and filmmaking. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell's Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental film Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Michel Basquiat</span> American artist (1960–1988)

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasper Johns</span> American painter (born 1930)

Jasper Johns is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christie's</span> British auction house

Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Amsterdam, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of François Pinault. In 2022 Christie's sold US$8.4 billion in art and luxury goods, an all-time high for any auction house. On 15 November 2017, the Salvator Mundi was sold at Christie's in New York for $450 million to Saudi Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, the highest price ever paid for a painting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotheby's</span> International auction house

Sotheby's is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and maintains a significant presence in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gagosian Gallery</span> Contemporary and modern art gallery with multiple locations

The Gagosian Gallery is a modern and contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. As of 2024, Gagosian employs 300 people at 19 exhibition spaces – including New York City, London, Paris, Basel, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Rome, Athens, Geneva, and Hong Kong – designed by architects such as Caruso St John, Richard Gluckman, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, and Annabelle Selldorf.

Ileana Sonnabend was a Romanian-American art dealer of 20th-century art. The Sonnabend Gallery opened in Paris in 1962 and was instrumental in making American art of the 1960s known in Europe, with an emphasis on American pop art. In 1970, Sonnabend Gallery opened in New York on Madison Avenue, and in 1971 relocated to 420 West Broadway in SoHo where it was one of the major protagonists that made SoHo the international art center it remained until the early 1990s. The gallery was instrumental in making European art of the 1970s known in America, with an emphasis on European conceptual art and Arte Povera. It also presented American conceptual and minimal art of the 1970s. In 1986, the so-called "Neo-Geo" show introduced, among others, the artist Jeff Koons. In the late 1990s, the gallery moved to Chelsea and continues to be active after Sonnabend's death. The gallery goes on showing the work of artists who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s including Robert Morris, Bernd and Hilla Becher and Gilbert & George as well as more recent artists including Jeff Koons, Rona Pondick, Candida Höfer, Elger Esser, and Clifford Ross.

Peter Mark Brant Sr. is an American industrialist and art collector. He is married to model Stephanie Seymour. He was also a magazine publisher until 2018 and a film producer.

Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company increased revenues by 25.3% to €17.3 million in 2015 compared with a year before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Koons</span> American sculptor and painter (born 1955)

Jeffrey Lynn Koons is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania. His works have sold for substantial sums, including at least two record auction prices for a work by a living artist: US$58.4 million for Balloon Dog (Orange) in 2013 and US$91.1 million for Rabbit in 2019.

Art Production Fund (APF) is a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code that presents public art throughout the United States. It was founded in 2000 by Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen. As of 2020, it is directed by Casey Fremont.

<i>Banality</i> (sculpture series) Sculpture series by Jeff Koons

Banality is a series of sculptures by American artist Jeff Koons. The works were unveiled in 1988 and have become controversial for their use of copyrighted images. Several editions of the sculptures have sold at auction for millions of dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Deitch</span> American art dealer and curator (born 1952)

Jeffrey Deitch is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects (1996–2010) and curating groundbreaking exhibitions such as Lives (1975) and Post Human (1992), the latter of which has been credited with introducing the concept of "posthumanism" to popular culture. In 2010, ArtReview named him as the twelfth most influential person in the international art world.

Adam Lindemann is a New York-based gallerist, art collector and writer who founded Venus Over Manhattan gallery in New York City in 2012. As an art collector and gallerist, Lindemann is known for setting multiple world records both at auction and privately, including career records for Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jean Royère. His personal collection includes work from Richard Prince, Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Urs Fischer. Lindemann wrote for The New York Observer from 2009 to 2017, and authored two books about contemporary art.

<i>Untitled</i> (1982 Basquiat skull painting) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever. In May 2017, it sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's, the highest price ever paid at auction for artwork by an American artist in a public sale. That record was surpassed by Shot Marilyns by Andy Warhol, which sold for $195 million in May 2022.

<i>Taxi, 45th/Broadway</i> Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol

Taxi, 45th/Broadway is a painting created by American artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol circa 1984–85. The artwork sold at Sotheby's for $9.4 million in November 2018.

<i>Zenith</i> (Basquiat and Warhol) Painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol

Zenith is a painting created by American artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol in 1985. It sold for $11.4 million at Phillips in May 2014, the highest price paid at auction for a Warhol-Basquiat collaboration.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Warholic, Haaretz, May 15, 2009". haaretz.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Bikel, Dror. "Six-Figure Fashions, Diamonds & Yachts: Libbie Mugrabi's Fight to Maintain Her Extravagant Lifestyle Post Divorce". Bikel & Schanfield. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  3. ↑ Widdicombe, Ben (2019-01-12). "Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  4. 1 2 3 Crow, Kelly (4 January 2008). "The Man With 800 Warhols" . Retrieved 21 August 2018– via www.wsj.com.
  5. ↑ "Art Collector David Mugrabi Sues Mana Contemporary for Holding His Collection 'Hostage' – artnet News". artnet.com. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  6. ↑ Martin, Guy. "Inside the Multimillion-Dollar, Celebrity-Filled Wedding of Colby Jordan and Alberto 'Tico' Mugrabi". forbes.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "Colby Jordan Marries Alberto "Tico" Mugrabi in a Star-Studded Affair in the South of France". vogue.com. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Alberto Mugrabi to Wed Finanicer's Daughter Colby Jordan – artnet News". artnet.com. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Warholic, Haaretz
  10. ↑ "Jose Mugrabi Has a Lot of Toys He Never Plays With". nymag.com. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  11. 1 2 "- ArtNews". www.sgallery.net. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  12. ↑ Gleadell, Colin (October 16, 2014). "Doig Sells for $7.3 Million at Christie's Sale". artnet News. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  13. ↑ Lankarani, Nazanin (26 February 2008). "New York dealers and collectors are discovering Philippe Pasqua, a Parisian painter of flesh, skulls and butterflies". The New York Times . Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too.  New York Times .
  15. ↑ Thompson, Don (2014-05-27). The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN   978-1-137-46413-2.
  16. ↑ Sunday Times; Scores of Warhols to be sold off in giant private art deal; 13 May 2007
  17. ↑ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. New York Times .
  18. ↑ Carol Vogel (May 15, 2008), Bacon triptych auctioned for record $86 million International Herald Tribune .
  19. ↑ Carol Vogel (November 8, 2010), Records Fall at Auction of Contemporary Masters New York Times .
  20. ↑ Carol Vogel (May 9, 2012), $44.8 Million, Going Twice at Sotheby’s New York Times .
  21. ↑ Carol Vogel (December 5, 2013), A Warhol Is Said to Be Bought by a Walton New York Times .
  22. ↑ Carol Vogel (November 12, 2013), At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold at an Auction New York Times .
  23. ↑ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. New York Times .
  24. ↑ Jeff Koons to have first ever one-man art exhibition in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Post
  25. ↑ Henriques, Diana B. "Madoff Scheme Kept Rippling Outward, Across Borders". The New York Times . Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Henriques, Diana B. "Madoff Scheme Kept Rippling Outward, Across Borders". The New York Times . Retrieved 21 August 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.