Irish group U2 are set to auction off a famous painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat later this year, with the work set to go for several million dollars.
The group first came into contact with the art work when bassist Adam Clayton spotted the painting in 1989. U2 purchased the work, named “Untitled (Pecho/Oreja)”, and since then it has hung in the band’s studio in Dublin.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a New York artist who came of age in the city’s graffiti scene. His “SAMO” tag was one of New York’s most recognizable landmarks, before Basquiat turned in his spray can for a paint brush. Though his career was brief, the artist’s neo-expressionist style lit up the US art scene, and attracted the attention of Andy Warhol – with whom Basquiat had a turbulent friendship.
Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a drugs overdose in 1988. The current record for one of his paintings is $14.6 million – for an artwork owned by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.
