This Week In Art: Basquiat Heats Up, Auctions Cool Down

May 20, 2016/Robin Rile

Jean Michel Basquiat painting "Untitled" (1982) The past two weeks in the Art World have displayed opposite sides of the coin: While records were broken for artists soaring into the millions, a cooling of a hot fall auction season has taken over.

At the recent auction held by Christie’s in New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat broke a new auction record for his work “Untitled”. The large painting (94 x 197 in.), sold at night, fetched a whopping $57.3 million dollars. Basquiat, the modern art scene’s l’enfant terrible, rubbed elbows with the likes of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Madonna, and his works have been growing momentum over the past decade. This same piece, “Untitled” appeared last in 2004 at Sotheby’s auction in London, selling to dealers Adam Lindemann and Amalia Dayan for $4.5 million.The work dates from 1982 and was created while the artist was on a trip to Modena, Italy. “Untitled” was included among a small group of premier works Basquiat created there, including “Profit 1” and “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump”. ArtNet News lists Basquiat’s 10 highest priced works at auction including the second and third highest priced works “Dustheads” (1982) for $48.8 million and “The Field to the Other Road” (1981) for $37.1 million.

Jean-Michel Basquiat painting Dustheads

“Untitled” an impressive canvas in the artist’s typical Neo-Expressionist and Primitive style, and was snatched up by 40 year old billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder of Zozotown, Japan’s largest online fashion mall. Maezawa, who is on Japan’s Forbes Top 50 list, plucked other gems from the auction including Runaway Nurse (2007) by Richard Price for $9.7 million as well as Alexander Calder’s “Sumac 17” from 1955 which sold for $5.8 million. In total, Maezawa spent $98 million on art in his spree.

But while records were broken for Jean-Michel Basquiat’s works, the Auction Market as a whole yielded roughly half of the sales they did last November, which was an impressive $2.33 billion haul. New York’s “gigaweek” was a six-day period this May jam-packed with auctions of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art. A cooling market was evidenced by only $1.2 billion in sales, less than half of the $2.7 billion the May prior. Christie’s sales totaled $657.7 million, while their rival Sotheby’s came in at $483.6 million. Phillips skirted through the week with sales totaling $57.1 million. All three of the auction houses saw a collective drop from the prior November (2015) sales. Blockbuster lots were not as prevalent during “gigaweek” and the selective bidding demonstrated patrons patiently waiting for more impressive works to perhaps surface again in the fall. Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat Boxing