Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 painting, Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari, fetched $12.6 million at Phillips’ modern and contemporary art evening sale in Hong Kong this week. The sale price, which includes premiums, just exceeded the low estimate of $12 million, making it the highest-selling piece of the season in Hong Kong.
This record-setting sale follows the auction of another Basquiat masterpiece, Untitled (ELMAR), also from 1982. This work sold for $46.5 million at Phillips’ modern and contemporary art evening sale in New York earlier this month, marking it as the most expensive lot of the New York sales. “These outstanding results confirm our unwavering dedication to Basquiat’s legacy and truly showcase our capabilities,” Meiling Lee, Phillips’ head of modern and contemporary art in Asia, said in a press release
This spring, Phillips successfully auctioned three early Basquiat works. Among them, Untitled (Portrait of a Famous Ballplayer) from 1981, sold for $7.8 million at a modern and contemporary art evening sale.
The Hong Kong event garnered a total of $26.8 million with a remarkable sell-through rate of 96 percent, a 10 percent increase from the previous season, according to Phillips.
Other notable highlights from the sale included Banksy’s Leopard and Lamb (2016), which sold for $4.7 million; Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY NETS (ZGHEB) from 2007, which fetched $3.3 million; and another Kusama piece, Pumpkin (2000), which brought in $1.7 million.
This record-setting sale follows the auction of another Basquiat masterpiece, Untitled (ELMAR), also from 1982. This work sold for $46.5 million at Phillips’ modern and contemporary art evening sale in New York earlier this month, marking it as the most expensive lot of the New York sales. “These outstanding results confirm our unwavering dedication to Basquiat’s legacy and truly showcase our capabilities,” Meiling Lee, Phillips’ head of modern and contemporary art in Asia, said in a press release
This spring, Phillips successfully auctioned three early Basquiat works. Among them, Untitled (Portrait of a Famous Ballplayer) from 1981, sold for $7.8 million at a modern and contemporary art evening sale.
The Hong Kong event garnered a total of $26.8 million with a remarkable sell-through rate of 96 percent, a 10 percent increase from the previous season, according to Phillips.
Other notable highlights from the sale included Banksy’s Leopard and Lamb (2016), which sold for $4.7 million; Yayoi Kusama’s INFINITY NETS (ZGHEB) from 2007, which fetched $3.3 million; and another Kusama piece, Pumpkin (2000), which brought in $1.7 million.
