Untitled 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, completed when the artist was only 22 years old
data-attachment-id="34654" data-orig-file="https://delectant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Basquait_Untiltes_1982.jpg" data-orig-size="1600,766" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","resized_images":"Array"}" data-image-title="Basquait_Untiltes_1982" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/delectant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Basquait_Untiltes_1982.jpg?fit=1200%2C575&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/delectant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Basquait_Untiltes_1982.jpg?fit=1270%2C608&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/delectant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Basquait_Untiltes_1982.jpg?w=1266&h=606&ssl=1" width="1266" height="606" data-original-width="1266" data-original-height="606" itemprop="http://schema.org/image" title="Basquait_Untiltes_1982" alt="Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) sold for $57.3 million. Its on-request estimate had been said to be around $40 million. It was a new record for the artist. | source: Christies" style="width: 1266px; height: 606px;" />
An impressive new record was set with the $57.3 million sale of an untitled 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, completed when the artist was only 22 years old. The work surpassed an estimate only described by the press release as “in excess of $40 million,” and sold to an Asian buyer, in a record for the artist at auction. Basquiat’s previous high mark was set by Christie’s in May 2013 with a painting from the same year titled Dustheads.
“It’s a tribute to this painting that we’re making records at a time when we’re not expected to be making them,” said international head of post-war and Contemporary Brett Gorvy.
The Basquiat buyer was revealed by the house to be 40-year-old Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, founder of the online fashion retailer Zozotown and the Tokyo-based organization Contemporary Art Foundation. Mr. Maezawa is valued at $2.7 billion and currently ranked Japan’s 17th richest person, according toForbes.
“When I encountered the work at the Christie’s New York preview, I had an immediate visceral connection it. Generationally, I relate to Basquiat’s culture and the essence of his life story,” said Mr. Maezawa in a statement. “Rather than monetary or investment value, I felt I had a personal responsibility to take care of this masterpiece and preserve it for the next generation.”
