A 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold Thursday for $110.5 million, the highest price paid at auction for a work by an American artist. It is also a world record price ever paid for contemporary work of art.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa purchased Basquiat’s painting christened “Untitled,” which first sold for $19,000 in 1984.
Vigil360 learnt that Maezawa stated on instagram that “I am happy to announce that I just won this masterpiece. When I first encountered this painting, I was struck with so much excitement and gratitude for my love of art. I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.”
Yusaku Maezawa, 41-year-old Japanese fashion entrepreneur had set the previous record for a Basquiat piece, paying $57.3 million for a painting of a horned devil last year.
He plans to loan the painting to institutions and exhibitions around the world before making it the centerpiece of a museum he plans to open in his hometown of Chiba.
“I hope it brings as much joy to others as it does to me, and that this masterpiece by the 21-year-old Basquiat inspires our future generations,” Maezawa said in a statement.
Only 10 other works have sold for more than $100 million. “Untitled” is the first work made after 1980 to sell for more than $100 million and fetched the sixth highest price ever for a work of fine art. It tops the $105 million paid in 2013 for Andy Warhol’s “Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster).”
Basquiat, a native New Yorker, had been an artist for just seven years when he died in 1988 of a heroin overdose at age 27.
Gregoire Billault, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s auction house said that, “Breaking $100 million for a work which is that recent is definitely extraordinary,” said “I think it just speaks about the talent of this guy. It’s just pure emotion. He’s bringing something never seen before.”
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