Sotheby's will auction Jean-Michel Basquiat's painting *Crowns (Peso Neto)* (1981) in its contemporary evening sale in New York this November, with an estimate of $35–$45 million—the highest ever for a Basquiat work from 1981. The painting, making its auction debut, was featured in Basquiat's breakthrough solo show at Annina Nosei Gallery in 1982 and later exhibited at documenta 7 in 1983 and the artist's retrospective at Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2018. It will tour London and Paris before being presented at Sotheby's new New York headquarters in the historic Breuer building.
The sale marks a major moment for the Basquiat market, as the work carries the highest estimate for a 1981 piece by the artist and comes amid strong demand for his iconic imagery. The auction also coincides with the opening of Sotheby's new Breuer building location, the site of Basquiat's first major retrospective in 1992, adding historical resonance. Another Basquiat work, *Untitled (Pestus)* (1982), will appear at Phillips's auction in October, underscoring sustained market interest in the artist, whose auction record remains $110.5 million for *Untitled* (1982).