Jean-Michel Basquiat's Hannibal (1982) was the star lot of an evening auction of contemporary art at Sotheby's London on October 9.
The work realised £10.5m ($13.1m), an increase of 134.7% on its £4.5m ($5.5m) estimate.
![]() Basquiat began using handmade frames in 1982 |
The work is executed on canvas attached to a rudimentary wooden frame. Basquiat started using these handmade frames in 1982.
Critic Rene Richard wrote at the time: "He's finally figured out a way to make a stretcher… that is so consistent with the imagery… they do look like signs, but signs for a product modern civilisation has no use for".
Basquiat's price point is advancing dramatically as the demand for his work grows.
Infantry, an important work from 1983, sold for $6m last week while his record was set at $57.3m at Christie's earlier this year.
Gerhard Richter's Garten (1982) realised £10.2m ($12.7m) against a valuation of £4m ($4.9m) - an increase of 155%.
The work was painted as Richter was transitioning from photorealism to abstraction.
Sotheby's describes it as "an astounding work that perfectly evinces the artist's inimitable ability to variegate texture, timbre, tone, and hue in order to create paintings of stunning quality and astounding complexity."
The rest of the sale included pieces from Peter Doig, David Hockney and Sigmar Polke. In all it achieved a total of £47.9m ($58.7m).
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