Amid audible gasps, a painting by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat broke Andy Warhol’s record for most expensive painting by an American artist when it sold at auction yesterday for $110.5 million, according to the New York Times.
The 1982 painting of a skull has “put him in the same league as Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon,” art dealer Jeffrey Deitch said.
The buyer was 41-year-old Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who plans to display it at a future museum in his hometown in Chiba.
“I am happy to announce that I just won this masterpiece,” he wrote in a post on Instagram. “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.”
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Throughout the years, Hip Hop music has featured many allusions to the Basquiat — born in Brooklyn to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 27 from an overdose. Jay Z made headlines in 2013 when he bought the Basquiat painting “Mecca,” and has made several references to the artist on throughout his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRD5iedeCwU
But Jay is far from the only one to recognize Basquiat’s work in his lyrics. J. Cole, Rick Ross, Killer Mike, Cy-Hi The Prynce and more have proven themselves to be art-lovers at one time or another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhbI5gfYSxE
And a Rammellzee vs. K-Rob release from 1983 that featured design and production work from the artist made DX’s list for the most expensive Hip Hop albums in existence.
