LONDON and NEW YORK – Both Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that Andy Warhol’s 1967 Self-Portrait, auctioned by Christie’s London on Feb. 23, was purchased by art dealer Larry Gagosian.

The striking, 6-foot-square red and white depiction of Warhol in a thoughtful pose, with splayed fingers pressed against the front of his face, was purchased by Gagosian for $17,441,892. Reportedly, Gagosian was speaking to a client on his cell phone while bidding in the room.

One of the underbidders vying against Gagosian was Jose Mugrabi, a Jerusalem-born textiles importer who is said to own the world’s largest collection of Warhol paintings.

Gagosian, owner of the Gagosian Gallery chain of art galleries, got his start in business by selling posters near the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles. In the early 1980s he developed his business rapidly by exploiting the possibilities of reselling works of art by blue-chip modern and contemporary artists, earning the nickname “Go-Go” in the process.

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