Jose Mugrabi
Born1939 (age 83–84)
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel)
NationalityIsraeli
Occupation(s)Industrialist and art collector
Known forOwner of 800 Andy Warhol artworks
SpouseMary
Children2 sons

Jose Mugrabi (born 1939) is a Syrian[1][2] Israeli businessman and art collector.[3] with a family net worth estimated at 5$ billion.[4][5] He is the leading collector of Andy Warhol, with 800 artworks.

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.[3] They have two sons, Alberto "Tico" Mugrabi and David Mugrabi.[6][7]

In September 2016, Alberto married Colby Jordan, daughter of investor Jay W. Jordan II, at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France.[8][9][10]

Mugrabi lives with his wife Mary in Trump Tower in New York City. His three sisters live in Israel.[11]

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.[12] In 1982, he moved to New York, where he met art dealer Jeffrey Deitch and began collecting art.[3]

Art collection

Mugrabi owned the world's largest collection of paintings by Andy Warhol, which are now owned by his sons.[13] His art collection included works by Renoir, Picasso, Rodin, Ernst, Daumier, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Jean-Michel Basquiat in addition to 800 Warhols.[13][14] He also owned the largest collection of Philippe Pasqua's paintings.[15] The Mugrabi art is stored in Zurich and near Newark, New Jersey.[6]

Mugrabi's first purchase was a Renoir landscape, bought in 1982 for $121,000 on the advice of Deitch.[16] 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.[1]

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."[6]

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.[17][18] In 2008, he bought Warhol's Detail of the Last Supper (Christ 112 Times) (1986) for $9.5 million.[19] 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.[20] At a 2012 Sotheby's auction, he acquired Warhol's Double Elvis (Ferus Type) (1963) for $33 million.[21]

At a Christie's auction in 2013, he sold Coca-Cola (3) (1962) to Alice L. Walton for $57.2 million.[22]

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.[23][24]

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.[25]

Losing to Madoff

The Mugrabis, who live in New York, were investors in a Bernard Madoff fund and lost money as a result.[26]

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."[27]

References

  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ Pury, Simon de (2017-01-01). The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-925575-26-2.
  3. ^ a b c "Warholic, Haaretz, May 15, 2009". haaretz.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. ^ Bikel, Dror. "Six-Figure Fashions, Diamonds & Yachts: Libbie Mugrabi's Fight to Maintain Her Extravagant Lifestyle Post Divorce". Bikel & Schanfield. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b c Crow, Kelly (4 January 2008). "The Man With 800 Warhols". Retrieved 21 August 2018 – via www.wsj.com.
  7. ^ "Art Collector David Mugrabi Sues Mana Contemporary for Holding His Collection 'Hostage' – artnet News". artnet.com. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ^ Martin, Guy. "Inside the Multimillion-Dollar, Celebrity-Filled Wedding of Colby Jordan and Alberto 'Tico' Mugrabi". forbes.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Colby Jordan Marries Alberto "Tico" Mugrabi in a Star-Studded Affair in the South of France". vogue.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Alberto Mugrabi to Wed Finanicer's Daughter Colby Jordan – artnet News". artnet.com. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  11. ^ Warholic, Haaretz
  12. ^ "Jose Mugrabi Has a Lot of Toys He Never Plays With". nymag.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  13. ^ a b "- ArtNews". www.sgallery.net. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  14. ^ Gleadell, Colin (October 16, 2014). "Doig Sells for $7.3 Million at Christie's Sale". artnet News. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. New York Times.
  17. ^ Sunday Times; Scores of Warhols to be sold off in giant private art deal; 13 May 2007
  18. ^ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. New York Times.
  19. ^ Carol Vogel (May 15, 2008), Bacon triptych auctioned for record $86 million International Herald Tribune.
  20. ^ Carol Vogel (November 8, 2010), Records Fall at Auction of Contemporary Masters New York Times.
  21. ^ Carol Vogel (May 9, 2012), $44.8 Million, Going Twice at Sotheby’s New York Times.
  22. ^ Carol Vogel (December 5, 2013), A Warhol Is Said to Be Bought by a Walton New York Times.
  23. ^ Carol Vogel (November 12, 2013), At $142.4 Million, Triptych Is the Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold at an Auction New York Times.
  24. ^ Ben Widdicombe (January 12, 2019), Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. New York Times.
  25. ^ Jeff Koons to have first ever one-man art exhibition in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Post
  26. ^ Henriques, Diana B. "Madoff Scheme Kept Rippling Outward, Across Borders". nytimes.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  27. ^ Henriques, Diana B. "Madoff Scheme Kept Rippling Outward, Across Borders". nytimes.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
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