Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Brooklyn-born artist, will have his $11o million painting, “Untitled,” displayed in the Brooklyn Museum at the end of this month. Here’s everything you need to know.
For the uninitiated, Untitled by Jean-Michel Basquiat may seem simplistic, even ugly. It would come as a surprise to those people that back in May (2017) the piece sold for $110.5 million, making it the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned in the U.S.
Brooklyn born Jean-Michel Basquiat created the piece in 1982, and it will soon be the focus of an exhibition called “One Basquiat” in his home borough at the Brooklyn Museum. A fitting place for his masterpiece given his mother enrolled him as a junior member at the tender age of six.
Born at Brooklyn Hospital (1960), and resident of Park Slope, Basquiat is somewhat of a tragic hero, his life, and career cut short when he died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 27.
Between 1976 and 1979, Basquiat, along with his friend Al Diaz, began his career spray-painting buildings in Lower Manhattan under the pseudonym SAMO garnering some recognition in alternative art circles. His breakthrough would come one year later in 1980’s as one of several artists featured in “The Times Square Show.”
His piece, “untitled” would become the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned in the U.S. when it sold for a staggering $110.5m within 10 minutes of bidding. Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa, the current owner of the piece has loaned the painting to the Brooklyn Museum before it embarks on a world tour ending in his hometown of Chiba.
“One Basquiat” is opening in the Brooklyn Museum, in the Robert E. Blum Gallery on January 26 through to March 11. This is your chance to see an extraordinary piece of local art history. See you there!
Featured image source [@basquiatart]