Why Spend $110 Million on a Basquiat? ‘I Decided to Go for It,’ Japanese Billionaire Explains
Mr. Maezawa said that When the hammer came down on the Basquiat thi
Amy said that He’s a very serious collector,
Maezawa said that I was sure that my eye was certain.
By MOTOKO RICH and ROBIN POGREBINMAY 26, 2017
TOKYO — As Sotheby’s contemporary art auction heated up in New York last week, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa sat on the floor of his living room here, streaming the auction live on his laptop
and relaying bids for Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 skull painting on his iPhone to a Sotheby’s specialist.
When she heard that Mr. Maezawa had paid $110.5 million — the record price for an American
artist at auction — she called her older sister, Lisane Basquiat, in California.
"We were speechless." If members of the Basquiat family are keepers of the Basquiat flame, Mr. Maezawa has now ensured it will continue burning, at least in the near future — in no small part
because he posted about his purchase on Instagram and Twitter right after the auction.
Maezawa said that I learned that so many people wanted to have this piece of art so much,
