Basquiat Painting Sells for $85 Million at Sotheby's, Setting New Artist Record

A monumental painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for $85 million at Sotheby's New York on Wednesday, setting a new auction record for the artist and reflecting the soaring demand for works by Black artists that has transformed the contemporary art market over the past decade.

The work, 'Untitled (Head),' a large-scale painting from 1982 that depicts a crown-wearing skull against a field of vivid color, was sold by a private collector who had owned it since the 1990s. The buyer was not identified.

The sale surpasses the previous Basquiat record of $57.3 million, set in 2017 when a Japanese billionaire paid that sum for a different 1982 painting. It also ranks among the highest prices ever paid for a work by an American artist.

"Basquiat is one of the defining artists of the 20th century, and the market is finally recognizing that," said Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby's fine art division. "His work speaks to the most pressing issues of our time — race, identity, power, and inequality — with a visual language that is both deeply personal and universally resonant."

The sale comes amid a broader surge in demand for works by Black artists, driven by a growing recognition of the historical undervaluation of their work and a wave of institutional acquisitions by major museums. The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Tate Modern have all significantly expanded their collections of work by Black artists in recent years.