Basquiat and Other Artists of Color Lead a Swell of Auction Sales
As live auctions resumed at Sotheby’s on Wednesday night, bidders there and at Christie’s the previous night welcomed a shift toward diversity in the contemporary art market.
On Wednesday, Sotheby’s resumed live auctions — three of them — for the first time since March 2020. The salesroom, newly designed by David Korins, offered Banksy’s “Love Is in the Air,” right, which sold for $12.9 million after fees. Basquiat’s “Versus Medici,” left, sold for $50.8 million.Credit...Nina Westervelt for The New York Times
Published May 13, 2021Updated May 14, 2021
Just as the art market withstood the trauma of the Sept. 11 attacks and the economic plunge of 2008, so did the purchasing of high-priced paintings prevail at Sotheby’s on Wednesday during the first live contemporary auction since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.