A brief but intense era of artistic output from 1981 to 1984 solidified Jean-Michel Basquiat’s place in the annals of art history, with the most expensive Basquiat paintings coming from this era. Despite his youth, the artist’s political astuteness and creative flexibility allowed him to become a significant influence in fusing painting and street art, effectively overcoming the divide between forms that have traditionally been regarded as high and low art. Basquiat rose to prominence as one of New York’s leading artists by the time of his death in 1988 at the age of 27.
The very institutions that continue to underrepresent Basquiat as an artist would reconsider his status throughout the ensuing decades. One of the most sought-after artists on the market, Basquiat produced all of his works in the short time span between 1981 and 1984. His pieces routinely fetch tens of millions of dollars when sold at auction. Below are the 5 most expensive Basquiat paintings ever sold.
5. Versus Medici, 1982- $50.8 Million
Versus Medici (1982) was up for auction for the first time in May 2021 during Sotheby’s marathon nighttime sale event. This was the same week that a $93 million Christie’s auction of a Basquiat skull painting from Valentino cofounder Giancarlo Giammetti’s collection took place, another one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings.
An estimate of $35 million was made for Versus Medici. Yaron Bruckner, the founder of Eastbridge Group, a Belgian merchant, was the final owner to be listed. He purchased the piece in 1990 and passed away in 2013. A bidder who spoke with Lisa Dennison, the chairman of Sotheby’s Americas, over the phone won the guaranteed piece for $44 million, or $50.8 million including buyer’s fees. Steve Wynn, a casino billionaire and mega collector, was identified as the purchaser of one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings ever sold.
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4. Untitled (Devil), 1982- $57.3 Million
Christie’s sold Basquiat’s Untitled (Devil) in May 2016. The billboard-sized piece, which was sold from Adam Lindemann’s collection, is regarded as legendary among Basquiat fans since it depicts the devil, a recurring theme in the artist’s work. While working on Untitled (Devil) in 1982, Basquiat moved to Los Angeles and met collectors who would go on to become some of the biggest names in the art world, including Eli and Edythe Broad.
Lindemann’s Untitled (Devil) sale was a wise decision on the collector’s part of one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings. There had been a significant decline in the Basquiat market in the spring of 2016. It wouldn’t have been a good idea for many collectors to put one of the most well-known Basquiat paintings up for auction at that time. With Christie’s guarantee undoubtedly playing a part, Lindemann correctly predicted that the relative stillness of the spring 2016 auctions would draw attention to his lot. When collector Yusaku Maezawa purchased the piece for $57.3 million, over its initial high estimate of $40 million, the piece entered the realm of the most expensive Basquiat paintings ever sold.
3. El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile)- $67 Million
At Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale in May 2023, Basquiat’s 1983 El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile), a sizable triptych from fashion designer Valentino Garavani’s collection, was put up for auction with an estimated price of $45 million. That figure quickly turned out to be conservative as a three-way bidding war drove up its value.
The work was hammered at $58 million and went to a bidder who spoke with Vanessa Fusco, a specialist at Christie’s New York, over the phone for a final price of $67 million plus fees. It was the fourth-highest amount ever paid for an artist’s creation at the time. His trademark frantic compositions of floating skulls, skinny figures, and scribbled sentences that sometimes allude to politics and Egypt are prevalent in this phase of his work as one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings and one of the most quintessential entries in his body of work.
2. In This Case, 1983- $93.1 Million
The centerpiece piece of the newly restructured Christie’s New York 20th century art evening sale in May 2021 was Basquiat’s 6-and-a-half-tall 1983 skull painting, In This Case, which came from Valentino cofounder Giancarlo Giammetti’s collection. Eight bids, one from Hong Kong, competed for the work, which had a third-party guarantee. A bidder speaking over the phone with Christie’s contemporary art specialist Ana Maria Celis won it for $93.1 million.
The picture is one of three pieces in the collection, which also includes the $110.5 million Basquiat skull painting that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa purchased at Sotheby’s in 2017, another one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings of all time. The Broad Museum has the third piece in that set. In This Case was last auctioned in 2002, but Giammetti didn’t acquire it at that time. Sotheby’s sold it to Gagosian for $999,500, below the low estimate, and Giammetti eventually purchased it from the mega-dealer in 2007.
From $1 million to $50 million, the estimate had grown fifty times since it was last up for auction in 2002, securing its spot as one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings ever sold.
Also Read: 12 Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold
1. Untitled, 1982- Most Expensive Basquiat Paintings Ever Sold- $110.5 Million
When 1982’s Untitled sold at Sotheby’s New York contemporary art evening auction in May 2017, it exceeded its $60 million presale high estimate by a significant margin, making it the most expensive Basquiat paintings to ever be sold at auction. Created during the height of Basquiat’s career, the piece showcases a massive skull-shaped form set against a mostly blue background. The sculpture had not been exhibited in public since 1984, when Jerry and Emily Spiegel paid $19,000 for it at Christie’s.
This was one of the reasons for the enthusiasm surrounding it. At $110.5 million, the historic sale placed the artist in the upper echelons of auction blockbuster names with some of the most expensive Basquiat paintings far exceeding the value of other major artists’ work. The Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa acquired the painting; only a year earlier, he had also purchased the second-most costly piece by Basquiat (see entry #2).
The painting became one of the ten most expensive pieces of art in history after the sale. Later on, Maezawa exhibited it in the Seattle Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. In 2019, it was included in a survey of Basquiat at the Brant Foundation as one of the most expensive Basquiat paintings ever sold.
