About 50 works by Jean-Michel Basquiat including murals from the East Village apartment he shared in 1979-80 will be sold by Christie’s in New York in March. Before the artist could afford studios and canvases the artist painted all over his apartment. In 1979 he began transforming the apartment where he cohabited with Alexis Adler. These works will feature in an upcoming exhibition and sales. Three major works, Olive Oyl, Famous Negro Athletes and Milk, will highlight the sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s on March 6. A selection of 41 works and items will be sold through a dedicated online only sale from March 3-17. An exhibition including never before published archive photographs from the collection of Alexis Adler takes place from March 1-28 on the 20th floor at Rockefeller Center.
Demand for work by Basquiat, who died in 1988 of a heroin overdose at just 27, has grown. Last year his Dustheads made $48.8 million at Christies.