Overview
- The government-run auction closed September 4 with combined high bids of about $35.8 million for four works sold online by Gaston & Sheehan in Pflugerville, Texas.
- Basquiat’s Red Man One sold for $22,002,790, his Self Portrait fetched $8,332,500, Picasso’s Tête de taureau et broc brought $5,007,502, and Diane Arbus’s photograph realized $500,150.
- Three pieces had been in Leonardo DiCaprio’s collection as gifts from Jho Low, and DiCaprio returned them to U.S. authorities in 2017 and was not accused of wrongdoing.
- The Basquiat Self Portrait was surrendered by producer Joey McFarland, whose company Red Granite Pictures later paid $60 million to settle U.S. claims without admitting wrongdoing.
- The sale adds to at least $1.7 billion in 1MDB-related recoveries reported by the Justice Department from an alleged $4.5 billion diversion, while Jho Low remains a fugitive facing U.S. charges and an Interpol notice.