This Basquiat once sold for $110 million — but here’s the real reason collectors covet it.
January 30, 2026
This isn’t just a skull. It’s Basquiat at full velocity. Painted in 1982 — the single most important year of his career — Untitled captures the moment before the market, before the mythology, before control. What looks like death is actually pressure, identity, history, and life colliding on canvas. That’s why this work sold for $110,000,000. Not because of scale. Not because of shock. But because collectors understand that in blue-chip art, narrative is value. 1982 Basquiat isn’t an aesthetic preference. It’s evidence. #Basquiat #JeanMichelBasquiat #Untitled1982 #BlueChipArt #ArtMarket #ContemporaryArt
Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat
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Wolf Sausage, King Brand, Untitled (Dog Leg Study), Undiscovered Genius
Great Wind of Sphenoid, from Anatomy
Cabeza, from Portfolio II
Untitled 4 (from Leonardo)
Flash In Naples, from Superhero Portfolio
Untitled 1, from The Figure Portfolio
Untitled 2, from The Figure Portfolio
Untitled 1 (from Leonardo)
King Alphonso
Thyroid, from Anatomy
The Scapula, from Anatomy
Untitled 4, from The Figure Portfolio
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