Pop Art legend Andy Warhol has enjoy plenty of posthumous success on this year's auction markets. But how about his protégé, Jean Michel Basquiat?
A major player in the art scene of the '80s, Jean Michel Basquiat became known in Soho and East Village - then a mecca for galleries and collectors of art - for his street art-infused works.
Basquiat increasingly turned away from street graffiti to painter, at which he proved hyper productive via a number of explosive works.
Like his mentor Warhol, Basquiat became a star of the New York underground."
"Original, nervous, rebellious and violent... on the wire," and "in tension" are the words used to describe his art in auctioneer De Baecque & Associés of Lyons' lot notes.
 Untitled (P.U.) by Andy Warhol's protege, Jean Michel Basquiat |
A piece by the artist, Untitled (P.U.), will appear for sale in its October 15 with a €50,000-80,000 ($108,315) estimate.
"Some drawings become paintings, the paintings look like drawings," said Basquiat, which is certainly evident in this work.
The piece for sale at De Baecque & Associés was acquired shortly before the death of the artist in the famous New York gallery Annina Nosei in 1982, the scene of his first solo exhibition.
Like the artist's best works, this piece is fast and spontaneous - almost childish - and will undoubtedly command attention from global collectors when it appears for sale at the weekend.
