LONDON.- Today, Sotheby’s Sales of 20th Century Italian Art and Contemporary Art, Including Arab and Iranian Art, brought a combined total of £20,157,550/$32,799,234 (Est. £15.6-21.6 million) and saw a total of seven new artist records established.
The auction was highlighted by the sale of “Fuego Flores” in acrylic and oilstick on canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), which saw competition from five bidders – four on the telephone and one in the saleroom – and sold within estimate for £959,650 (Est. £800,000-1,200,000). The work, signed, titled and dated 1983, has remained off the market for over 20 years and was last exhibited publicly in the 1984 exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Gallery V in Stockholm. This sensational canvas was executed at the very height of Basquiat’s brief and brilliant artistic career.
Sotheby’s Sales of 20th Century Italian Art and Contemporary Art Realize $32,799,234
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