Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting, In this Case, has sold for $US93.1 million ($119 million) at auction in New York, the second-highest price paid for a work by the late artist.
The 1983 painting, which depicts a skull on a red background, sold for $US81 million at Christie’s, but with fees and commissions the final price came to $US93.1 million, well above the estimate of $US50 million.
A paradoxical painting of a scene that could have never existed has set a new record auction price for surrealist Belgian artist René Magritte.
Depicting a night-time Brussels street under a bright blue sky, L’Empire des Lumieres — Empire of Light — sold for a hammer price of 51.5 million pounds ($94.5 million) on Thursday.
Additional fees gave it a final sale price of 59.422 million pounds ($109 million).
The 1961 painting had an estimate in excess of more than 45 million pounds ($82.6 million).