How the Nahmad family made billions trading art, and why so many people in the art world can't stand them.
On the evening of Nov. 6, in the packed Rockefeller Center salesroom of Christie's auction house, four buyers were vying for a 1955 Picasso oil of Jacqueline, the artist's second wife. As the bidding quickly rose above $20 million, five members of a family of international art dealers named Nahmad watched from their seats in the middle of the expensively attired crowd. David Nahmad, 60, together with his two older brothers, had purchased the painting in May 1995 at Sotheby's for $2.6 million. The winning bid: $30.8 million, including the auction house's 12% commission. The family made a tenfold gain over a 12-year holding period. It was a profitable night, indeed, for the Nahmads. Earlier a Modigliani they had bought privately in London five months before for $18 million had also sold for $30.8 million.
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