The Basquiat sold at Phillips de Pury last night increased five-f0ld in price over 8 years. Unfortunately, the price was set by a third-party guarantor who won the lot:
The Basquiat, dating from 1985 and featuring a half-length self-portrait next to a wooden panel covered in bottle tops, fetched 2.1 million pounds ($3.4 million) at Phillips de Pury & Co.’s first contemporary sale at Claridge’s in Mayfair. The price was five times the $647,500 it fetched at Phillips de Pury, New York, in 2003. […] The Basquiat was one of five works with minimum bids by third party guarantors. It fell to the guarantor, bidding by phone, for slightly more than the 2-million-pound low estimate.
Basquiat’s Price Soars Fivefold as $320 Million Auctions Start in London (Bloomberg)
