I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.”
A photo posted by Matt Carey-Williams (@matt_careywilliams) on Jan 17, 2017 at 7:30am PST
It was Mr. Maezawa, the 41-year-old founder of Contemporary Art Foundation, who last year set the previous auction
high for Basquiat, paying $57.3 million for the artist’s large 1982 painting of a horned devil at Christie’s.
A Basquiat Sells for ‘Mind-Blowing’ $110.5 Million at Auction -
By ROBIN POGREBIN and SCOTT REYBURNMAY 18, 2017
Joining the rarefied $100 million-plus club in a salesroom punctuated by periodic gasps from the crowd, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s powerful
1982 painting of a skull brought $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, to become the sixth most expensive work ever sold at auction.
The sale of the painting, “Untitled,” made for a thrilling moment at Sotheby’s postwar
and contemporary auction as at least four bidders on the phones and in the room sailed past the $60 million level at which the work — forged from oil stick and spray paint — had been guaranteed to sell by a third party.
Last year, Basquiat became the highest-grossing American artist at auction, generating $171.5 million from 80 works, according to Artprice,
and his auction high has increased at least tenfold in the last 15 years.
