This bold, hot pink and maroon painting from 1984 measures 6.5 feet by 7.5 feet and is expected to fetch between HK$95 million to HK$125 million (approximately $13 million to $16 million).
The auction will coincide with Art Basel Hong Kong for the first time. Sabado originates from a time when Basquiat was working closely with Andy Warhol, a collaboration that produced over 150 paintings. The piece reflects this partnership, especially in the silkscreened section of the work.
1984 also marked Basquiat’s first solo museum exhibition, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Paintings 1981–1984, which was shown at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh before traveling to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
The painting is filled with Basquiat’s signature motifs, such as his “Griot” figures, depictions of animals, simplified female nudes, spirals, and references to the solar system and Fibonacci’s golden ratio.
Ada Tsui, Christie’s head of evening sale and 20th/21st century art in Asia Pacific, mentioned that the auction house has been fostering a market for Basquiat in Asia since 2021, when Warrior (1982) sold for a record HK$323.6 million ($41.8 million) in Hong Kong.
Basquiat’s appeal continues to grow globally, with his works transcending borders. In fact, the record for the most expensive Basquiat painting ever sold at auction still belongs to Asian collector and billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who purchased Untitled (1982) for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s New York in 2017.
Other notable pieces in the March sale include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s La Promenade au bord de la mer (1892), estimated between HK$18 million to HK$28 million ($2.3 million to $3.6 million), and René Magritte’s La Clairvoyance (1962), with an estimate of HK$15 million to HK$25 million ($1.93 million to $3.2 million).
