Basquiat’s ‘Warrior’ fetches record $41.6 million in Hong Kong auction
Hong Kong, Mar 23 (efe-epa).- Auction house Christie’s on Tuesday sold American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work “Warrior” for HK$ 323.6 million ($41.6 million) at an auction in Hong Kong, setting the record for the most expensive western artwork auctioned in Asia.
The painting, cataloged by Christie’s as the “pinnacle of Basquiat’s creative output,” was sold during a live-streamed auction from the former British colony.
Painted in 1982, at the peak of the artist’s career, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s (1960-1988) Warrior is a “commanding and authoritative portrait that amply demonstrates why the artist is regarded as one of the most important painters of the last half century,” said the firm.
The work has been displayed in exhibitions across the world since going public in 1983.
It was put to auction with the idea of attracting collectors from different countries and time zones and capitalizing on Basquiat’s international appeal, Christie’s said in a press release.
Warrior forms part of a series of Basquiat paintings on panels dating back to 1981-82, which includes “Hara” and “Irony of Negro Policeman,” and exudes his characteristic raw and exuberant energy, which is reflected in the entire composition.
Son of a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat is a true representative of New York in the 1980’s and more than thirty years after his death, his work continues to be extremely popular among collectors across the world.
Self-taught and exceptionally intelligent, the young rebel artist died due to a drug overdose even before reaching the age of 30, but his brief career – marked by experiments in art, sex and drugs – has led to him being placed among the most celebrated North American artists. EFE-EPA
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