Haitian-American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 ‚Untitled‘ piece was auctioned off for $110 million USD at Sotheby’s, NYC, breaking several global art records at once. Untitled, drawn in acrylic, oil stick and spray paint, depicted a colourful, abstract skull-style face and was initially projected to go for approximately $60 million USD.
Not only did this sale break the record for Basquiat’s most expensive work but also for the most expensive work by a US artist, the most expensive work by a black artist and the most expensive work to have been created after 1980. The art piece had been kept low-key ever since its previous purchase in 1984 before being acquired by the 41-year-old Japanese fashion guru, Yusaka Maezaka. Maezaka is actually the same person that broke Basquiat’s previous record a year ago, dropping $57.3 million USD on it.
Maezaka is both a local and global fashion guru, making billions of dollars with selling fashion online. With a net worth of over $3 billion, he has acquired a taste and passion for expensive contemporary art adding pieces by classic artists such as Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein and Kaware to his extensive collection. Maezaka has stated that he will shortly begin the construction of his own museum in the Japanese city of Chiba, located east of Tokyo, in which his personal collection is intended to be exhibited.
Check out Yusaka Maezaka’s exclusive interview with Forbes Magazine here.
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