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Jean-Michel Basquiat record up 23.3% at Christie's
1981's Untitled raised Jean-Michel Basquiat's auction record at Christie's
Paul Fraser Collectibles, Thursday 28 June 2012
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The world record for Jean-Michel Basquiat's work at auction was raised by 23.3% yesterday (June 27), at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art evening sale in London.
The auction comes just one day after another Basquiat piece, 1982's Warrior, topped Sotheby's Contemporary Art sale at £5.6m. The Christie's sale saw Untitled 1981 secure the world record at £12.9m ($20.1m), beating the previous $16.4m achieved by a similar piece in May.
Basquiat's work is selling well in 2012
Works from 1981 are highly sought after by Basquiat collectors, as it is considered his most productive year. After struggling with a ravaging heroin addiction for the majority of his professional career, Basquiat's work varies in quality during certain periods. He died of an overdose in 1988, aged just 27, fuelling the high prices seen at auction.
Another dazzling result in the sale was seen by a characteristic work from Gerhard Richter, which sold for 5.8% above its high estimate to realise £12.6m ($19.8m).
The auction was a huge success for Christie's, totalling $132.8m - the highest result ever achieved at a Post-War and Contemporary Art auction in Europe. See more of the sale's superb results here.
With the global art market up 63% since the economic crash, Christie's have recently been enjoying a period of success, highlighted by the record sale of Mark Rothko's Orange, Red and Yellow. In fact, in 2011 the auction house saw a total of $5.7bn - 14% more than in 2010.
With results like these, the market is seeing more investors turn to passion investments, such as fine art, as a more secure option than the troubled stock markets. For more great investment advice from our experts, click here.
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Images: Christie's
