ART: Basquiat's 'Warrior' Could Become Most Expensive Western Artwork Auctioned in Asia & MORE

The 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting entitled Warrior is set to become the most expensive piece of Western artwork to be auctioned in Asia, expecting to be sold between $31 million and $41 million USD. The piece will be sold at next month’s Christie’s Hong Kong sales event.

Even if the painting reaches the lower range of the estimate, the Basquiat piece will be amongst the top 10 Basquiat paintings to ever auction. The most recent Basquiat painting, Flesh and Spirit (1982) sold for $30.7 million USD at Sotheby’s in 2018.

Christie’s international director of postwar and contemporary art, Cristian Albu, callsthe painting “simply a masterpiece.” Warrior is an acrylic, oilstick and spray paint on wood panel. The painting, which features the signature Basquiat skull-like head was initially purchased the piece at Sotheby’s London in 2012 for $8.7 million USD. If Warrior sells within the estimated range, the painting would have drastically increased.

The sale of Warrior continues to emphasize the rise of Basquiat pieces in the art world. Since 2013, nine of the top ten most expensive Basquiat works were from the same year Warrior was completed. Albu said, “In ’82, he was at the height of his artistic power,” Albu said. “If you look at this it’s like a self-portrait. He had no shame to express what he wanted to express.”

1981-2 are considered the artist’s most valuable era and paintings during this time frame have become increasingly scarce. With each year, “they become rarer and rarer. Most of them now are in museums or private foundations,” claims Albu.

If the Basquiat sells well during the Christie’s Hong Kong auction, the piece will outdo a 2020 Asia contemporary art record, set by a Gerhard Richter piece. Last winter, Christie’s Hong Kong achieved the highest total sales for an Asian auction house, claiming 17 records for contemporary artists in its December 2020 sale.

The Basquiat will go on sale at Christie’s Hong Kong on March 23 during a single-lot sale titled, We Are All Warriors.

Check out Christie’s for more information.Next month, Christie’s is offering a selection of works that showcases the collector’s passion for New York artists in an auction called “A New York State of Mind: An Important Private Collection.” The sale will highlight leading Abstract Expressionist artists such as Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler, as well as prominent New York Neo-Expressionist artists, like Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Salle.

Leading the private sale is Basquiat’s 1984 work titled MP. Expected to fetch up to $6 million USD, the portrait depicts Michael Patterson, the artist’s friend from the vibrant nightlife scene of 1980s New York, on an off-white background adorned with xeroxed sheets of text, symbols and drawings. MP marks the cultural moment in which the two of them met and immortalizes Patterson as a regal presence. Rare among Basquiat’s works in depicting a subject from life, the portrait is also special in its ability to capture personality and character.

Another highlight from “A New York State of Mind” includes Mitchell’s Untitled work from 1958 to 1959. The piece demonstrates Mitchell’s painterly language from the mid-50s and was created during a creative period when she took her place at the forefront of the New York School. “From the lyricism of Joan Mitchell’s New York period, to the electricity of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s downtown art scene, this collection captures the unrelenting energy and beauty of New York City,” says Johanna Flaum, Head of Department, Post-War and Contemporary Art.

Christie’s will offer “A New York State of Mind: An Important Private Collection” across its 20th Century Evening Sale on October 6 and its Day Sales on October 7.This Friday, Phillips is opening up a new outpost in the Hamptons, joining other auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, as well as galleries like Hauser & Wirth, Pace and Skarstedt. Phillips has moved into a two-story, 6,000-square-foot space in Southampton, New York, which has been redesigned by studioMDA. Its inaugural show at the new space will feature 70 works, giving the public a hint of what will be included in the auction house’s upcoming sales. 

A major highlight of the November evening sale of 20th-century and contemporary art is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting Portrait of A-One A.K.A King, which is estimated to fetch between $10 million to $15 million USD. The six-by-six-foot work work serves as a tribute to the legendary New York graffiti artist A-One, who was also a close friend of Basquiat, and is an example of the artist’s “mark-making,” Robert Manley, co-head of 20th-century and contemporary art and global chairman at Phillips, told ARTnews. 

Back in June, Basquiat’s Untitled (Head) (1982) achieved a new record for a work on paper by the artist at Sotheby’s, where it sold for $15.2 million, while Phillips sold a Basquiat paper on canvas work titled Victor 25448 (1987) for $9.3 million USD last month. Just two weeks ago, a Basquiat work set a record for an in-app purchasewhen Untitled (1982) went for $10.8 million USD on former Christie’s co-chairman Loïc Gouzer’s new app called Fair Warning. 

Other works that will be included in the evening sale of 20th-century and contemporary art include pieces by Pablo Picasso, Ruth Asawa, Joan Miró, Nicolas Party, Robert Rauschenberg and many others. The sale is scheduled for November 11 to 12.