Works attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat in the sights of the FBI

IIt could be a major scandal on the art market. As reported by New York Times in an article spotted by International mailthe FBI is currently investigating 25 works by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat which have been on display since February at the Orlando, Florida Art Museum, but which may in fact be fakes.

The authenticity of the works is more than ever questioned by the investigators, who believe that the American museum is currently exhibiting decoys in its enclosure. According to the statements of the current owners of the works and the management of the museum, all the paintings were sold by Jean-Michel Basquiat himself to two buyers for 5,000 dollars in the 1980s. Stored in a storage room before to fall into oblivion, they were seized in 2012 before being sold at auction for 15,000 dollars.

Asked by the New York Timesthe famous art dealer Larry Gagosian calls this hypothesis “highly improbable” and justifies himself by evoking the past of the two buyers, who were convicted of drug cases, under different names.

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A potential value of $100 million

Another detail undermines the authenticity of the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. According to an independent expert, one of the boxes on which one of the paintings was made dates from 1994, six years after the death of the American artist. A theory strongly reprimanded by the management of the museum, which claims to have relied on various expertise and research to prove the reliability of the works.

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The American daily recalls that the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat are today among the most expensive in contemporary art. If their authenticity were to be confirmed, the 25 paintings on cardboard exhibited at the Orlando museum could be worth “about 100 million dollars”.