JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT’S WARRIOR – LAUNCHES 20TH CENTURY ART EVENING SALES ON 23 MARCH – BY CHRISTIE´S
SELLING FOR HK$323,600,000 / £30,265,619 / €35,077,853 / US$41,857,351
The First in a Series of Formidable Masterpieces to be Offered in Asia this Season
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s landmark work, Warrior has sold for HK $323,600,000 / £30,265,619 / €35,077,853 / US$41,857,351, in a live and livestreamed Evening Sale, as a key offering of Christie’s Global Spring Season of 20th Century sales.
The masterpiece, which represents the pinnacle of Basquiat’s creative output, has become the most expensive Western artwork ever offered in Asia and attracted bidding between Hong Kong and New York.
Painted in 1982 at the height of his artistic power, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 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. The work was offered in a sale format that highlighted Basquiat’s international appeal, uniting collectors from different geographies and time zones, and situating his work within a context that highlighted his influences and the impact his work had on artists that followed.
The sale is a milestone for the Western art market in Asia, speaking to Christie’s continued success in the region. It also follows the exceptional results seen at Chirstie’s on 1 March 2021 when the current season launched in London and New York, realising a total on the evening of £43,702,515 / $61,139,818 / €50,520,107, selling 98% by lot and 100% by value. The sales were highlighted by the exceptional record-breaking sale of Sir Winston Churchill’s Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque and Vincent van Gogh’s exquisite portrait La Mousmé from A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud. The outstanding result builds on the record-breaking season of 20th/21st Century Art sales in Hong Kong last December.
