Overview
A gripping true-crime caper about Jean-Michel Basquiat, 25 paintings potentially worth $100 million, an FBI-raided museum, and the shadowy fringes of the art world
When 25 paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat were found in a foreclosed storage unit rented by an Emmy-winning Hollywood screenwriter, they appeared to be a major find. Since his death in 1988, Basquiat’s work has exploded in popularity—and in price, with some of his artworks now selling for upwards of $200 million.
Bought for just $15,000, the 25 found Basquiat paintings were subsequently valued at over $100 million, and in February 2022, they were unveiled to the public at Florida's Orlando Museum of Art. Just four months later, the FBI’s Art Crime Team raided the museum and seized all 25 paintings—whose authenticity was now under fire—right off its walls.
Journalist Brett Sokol’s The Basquiat Hustle is a gripping account of the entire scandalous affair, and of the moneyed art world that fueled it. Sokol first broke news that the paintings appeared to be fake in a series for The New YorkTimes, asking the vital questions: If they were fake, who knew? And how could apparent fakes have ended up in a major museum exhibition? Tracking a decade-long FBI investigation into the paintings and their provenance, Sokol uncovers memorable characters and astonishing clues, from a twice-convicted cocaine dealer turned Wall Street fraudster to the incriminating typeface on a FedEx label which broke the case open. The Basquiat Hustle is a mesmerizing mixture of art history and crime reporting, all shot through with celebrity, glamour, and the kind of ambition which accompanies a $100 million payday.
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