Billionaires Pump Up Basquiat With $93.1 Million Christie’s Sale
The 1983 piece, titled In This Case, smashed its estimate of $50 million.
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s In This Case from 1983.
Source: Christie's
A painting of a skull by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $93.1 million at Christie’s in New York on Tuesday night, becoming the artist’s second-most expensive work to sell at auction and setting a new benchmark for this week’s blockbuster evening sales.
The 1983 painting, titled In This Case, was estimated to sell for more than $50 million. As the lot opened up to a salesroom populated exclusively by cameras and auction house specialists, Gemma Sudlow, a senior vice president at Christie’s who was leading the auction, opened bidding at $40 million, and quickly brought its price to $52 million.