Picture this, you are on board a multimillion-dollar vessel, witnessing a billionaire’s three spooked children fling cornflakes at the skull-shaped, $110 million Basquiat painting that adorned the wall of their chartered vessel. The painting was then owned by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, currently worth $1.5 billion (according to Bloomberg), who purchased it for $110.5 million in 2017. It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that the painting accompanying the rich family was perhaps as expensive as, or even more expensive than, the vessel they chartered, but that’s not the point. The point is the catastrophe involving cornflakes and the most expensive Basquiat ever sold at auction.
Yes, this would be alarming, but what followed was even more disturbing; the mishandling of this masterpiece by a clueless crew that knew how to make beds and serve hors d’oeuvres, but not how to handle cereal on a Basquiat’s surface. Basquiat’s work usually combines acrylic, spray paint and oilstick, producing areas with different textures and sensitivities. Carelessly wiping the surface could abrade fragile or raised material, smear the strokes, press residue further into the surface and cause additional damage.
Thankfully, owing to the involvement of experts, the effectively irreplaceable painting was restored. Not only was it restored, but the 1982 Untitled skull, which Basquiat painted at age 21 during the apex of his career, was also reportedly sold to hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin for a whopping $200 million in 2024, reported Artnet.
In just seven years, the painting’s reported value increased by $90 million, despite its history and perhaps owing to its rarity. It is worth mentioning that, using their current net worths, Maezawa’s purchase represented roughly one-fourteenth of his entire fortune ($1.5 billion), while Griffin’s represented less than half of one percent of his ($52 billion). Put simply, Maezawa put a far greater share of his wealth at risk. Griffin, meanwhile, founded and runs the wildly successful Miami-based hedge fund Citadel. According to Bloomberg, the firm manages $68 billion in assets, while Griffin himself is worth more than $52 billion. He owns the $250 million superyacht Defy, formerly Viva, which is only slightly more expensive than his Basquiat, at least for now.
Since Maezawa reportedly sold the painting to Griffin, his $350 million superyacht Nausicaa will never have the pleasure of hosting the scary Basquiat at its breakfast table, perhaps a relief for his three children. Its two-level art gallery, where cereal mishaps are unlikely, will nevertheless miss one particularly interesting work, complete with a three-pointed crown, scrawled typography, and a rich history.
As for Griffin, the billionaire has secured approval to build a 3.7-acre private marina in Miami capable of accommodating his 308-foot superyacht. Should he ever bring the Basquiat aboard, he would be following in the wake of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who reportedly once displayed Leonardo da Vinci’s $450 million Salvator Mundi aboard his roughly $400 million superyacht Serene.
Whether Griffin’s $200 million Basquiat ever boards his $250 million superyacht remains unknown, especially given the painting’s history with yachts and breakfast tables.For now, it is at the Pérez Art Museum Miami as part of Basquiat: Figures, Signs, Symbols, one of nine paintings shown alongside one sculpture from the Kenneth C. Griffin Collection.
