Yeah, the economy may suck and the rich may not care about art, however one artist is not being affected by the times. A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold last night for a whopping $29 million. The untitled work with his trademark abstract cartoon figures was initially estimated to sell for about $24.7 million.
The work was sold during the first of a series of postwar and contemporary art sales by Christie's. Other notables that sold at the event include: Roy Lichtenstein’s early “Cup of Coffee” (1961) which sold for $4.3 million, Willem de Kooning’s late and loopy “Untitled XXVIII” (1983) for $4.4 million, and Enrico Castellani’s “Superficie Bianca n. 34” for $2.8 million.
“The market is still selective,” the Brussels-based dealer Paolo Vedovi said according to Bloomberg. “People know when things are good, and when they aren’t. They’re also sensitive to price.” It's also worth mentioning that someone recently bought Basquiat's crappy resume for a big chunk of change. Names clearly still have a draw.
