Jean Michel Basquiat Painting Sells for Record $110 Million; See who bought it

Let yesterday's auction be a lesson in "the goal isn't to live forever but to create something that will". ______________________________________________________________A skull painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, named “Untitled,” sold at auction Thursday for $110.5 million—the highest price ever paid for the work of an American artist and also the sixth-highest auction price for any painting in world history. The Sotheby’s auction lasted only 10 minutes, and the artwork was purchased by Yusaku Maezawa @yusaku2020, a Chinese-born billionaire entrepreneur living in Japan, who bid by phone. #basquiat #jeanmichelbasquiat #jeanmichel #contemporaryart #contemporaryartist

A post shared by Knowledge Bennett (@knowledge_bennett) on May 19, 2017 at 7:15am PDT

A 1982 painting by iconic artist Jean Michel Basquiat sold for a record $110.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction in NYC on Thursday.
The untitled painting of a skull is the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction by a U.S. artist.

Basquiat’s Untitled skull also holds the distinction of being the priciest artwork ever sold by a black artist. The previous record was held by Basquiat’s friend Andy Warhol.
Untitled is the sixth most expensive painting sold in the world.
The winning bid was placed by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who posted an Instagram photo of his prized painting on Thursday.
“I am happy to announce that I just won this masterpiece,” he wrote in the caption. “When I first encountered this painting, I was struck with so much excitement and gratitude for my love of art. I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.”
The bidding war lasted for 10 minutes. Yusaku’s art collection includes another Basquiat painting which he purchased for $57 million.
Basquiat died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at age 27.

I am happy to announce that I just won this masterpiece. When I first encountered this painting, I was struck with so much excitement and gratitude for my love of art. I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.  バスキア落札しました。アートを好きになってよかった。このペインティングをはじめて見た時、心からそう思いました。みなさんにも見てもらえる機会を作れたらいいなと思っています。  #jeanmichelbasquiat #basquiat #バスキア #ありがとう @sothebys

A post shared by Yusaku Maezawa (@yusaku2020) on May 18, 2017 at 5:33pm PDT