The untitled acrylic, spray paint and oilstick on canvas from 1982 carried an estimate in excess of $60m but drew a 10-minute bidding competition before it was knocked down to Japanese e-commerce billionaire and contemporary art collector Yusaku Maezawa.
The price exceeded the previous record for Basquiat which was posted by another untitled work from the same year that sold for a premium-inclusive $57.3m at Christie’s New York in May 2016 and was purchased by the same buyer.
The two paintings will be exhibited together at Maezawa’s private museum which he is planning to open in his hometown of Chiba, Japan.
Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa who purchased the record painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Sotheby’s. Image Courtesy Yusaku Maezawa via Sotheby’s.
Maezawa, 41, made a fortune after founding a mail-order album business Start Today before later opening the fashion retail website Zozotow. His net worth according to Forbes is $3.6bn.
I am a lucky man. #JeanMichelBasquiat #バスキア pic.twitter.com/Mn0EROjmXq
— 前澤友作 Yusaku Maezawa (@yousuck2020) May 19, 2017
Further records at the Sotheby’s sale came for Jonas Wood, Wolfgang Tillmans, Mira Schendel, Blinky Palermo and Takeo Yamaguchi.
The overall total for the sale was $319.2m (£247.4m) including premium with 48 of the 50 lots (96%) selling on the night.
The auction followed Phillips evening sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art which concluded shortly before the Sotheby’s event kicked off. Phillips’ auction raised $110.3m (£85.5m) with all 37 lots finding buyers.
The auction was led by Peter Doig’s Rosedale from 1991, which sold to a bidder on the phone for $28.8m including premium.
£1 = $1.29
