Which works of art fetched the highest prices in 2025?
When you say contemporary art, you mean Jean-Michel Basquiat: the top five most expensive works sold at auction in 2025 leave no room for doubt. The rebellious energy of the “black Picasso” occupies four of the top five positions, leaving one to the ethereal Peter Doig. These are all seminal works, mostly from the two-year period 1981-1982, dense with his most powerful, intimate, and troubled iconographic traits.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), Sabado por la Noche (Saturday Night), 1984 – $14.5 million
A work that combines drawing, painting, collage, and silkscreen printing. It belongs to a crucial year for Basquiat’s creativity, when he was living in Andy Warhol’s loft. Christie’s Hong Kong, March 28.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1981 – $16.4 million
One of the artist’s most powerful paintings, created when he was just twenty years old: it reveals all the iconographic alchemy of his transcultural roots. Sotheby’s New York, May 16.
Peter Doig (1959), Ski Jacket, 1994 – $19.2 million
Measuring over two meters wide, the work depicts the memory of a ski slope: the scene is enveloped in auroral and luminous shades of pink, gold, and blue. Christie’s London, October 15.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Baby Boom, 1982 – $23.4 million
Wooden planks held together by ropes. One of Basquiat’s most personal works: the three portraits represent the artist with his parents. Christie’s May 14.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto), 1981 – $48.3 million
Painted on Christmas Eve, as indicated by the inscription on the back, “December 25, 1981,” the work debuted in Basquiat’s famous solo exhibition at the Annina Nosei Gallery in March 1982, and then appeared the same year at Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany. Sotheby’s New York, November 18, 2025.
