Katya Kazakina fingers Steven Cohen as the seller of the Jean-Michel Basquiat that will play an important role in Christie’s May sale. There’s a lot of chatter on the private market about Basquiat pricing right now which may add to the interest:

Billionaire money manager Steven A. Cohen is selling a prized painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Christie’s in May, according to people familiar with the matter. […]

“It’s one of the few works of white men by Basquiat,” said Alex Rotter, Christie’s chairman of postwar and contemporary art in the Americas. “It also has a political aspect.” Rotter declined to comment on the identity of the Basquiat seller. Cohen’s spokesman Jonathan Gasthalter also declined to comment.