Skull paintings cost hundreds of millions of dollars

Jean-Michel Basquiat continued to have more works worth tens of millions of dollars when “Untitled” (1982) sold for $85 million at Phillips’ “20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale” in New York on May 18.

The artist uses acrylic on canvas, depicts an African-style skull on an abstract, dripping color background. The work was painted during the Basquiat period in Modena, Italy, with a large size of 238×500 cm, reminiscent of street murals. Follow New York Times, this is one of the artist’s most monumental works. The painting was purchased by collector Adam Lindemann for $4.5 million in 2004. In the 2016 auction, the painting belonged to Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for $57.3 million. Artnet The skull resembles a self-portrait, reminiscent of Basquiat’s starting point as a street artist. This is a symbol in the artist’s paintings and is sought after in the market. Image: Phillips

Painter was born in 1960 in Brooklyn, is an American, of African descent. Basquiat began his career as a graffiti artist, hailed as a prodigy by artist Andy Warhol and the New York gallery. By the mid-1980s, the artist was making $1.4 million a year. Basquiat died in 1988, at the age of 27, from a drug overdose. Follow New York TimesThe artist’s death is a personal tragedy and great loss to the art world.