Bloomberg |Katya Kazakina:

In the art world, auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s are like squabbling siblings—more alike than different, yet always trying to one-up each other. Next week in New York, the two rivals are vying to sell separate collections of contemporary art from two actual siblings—at virtually the same time.

Perhaps fittingly in the circumstances, the two sisters aren’t on speaking terms. The competition involves the grown daughters of the late Jerry Spiegel, a onetime Long Island farmer turned real-estate mogul, and his wife, Emily. The couple had a lucrative avocation: finding young artists destined for greatness. They amassed early works from future superstars such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and Jeff Koons…read more

Image |Robert Mapplethorpe via Christie’s |  Emily and Jerry Spiegel: