NEW YORK (Reuters) — A door "tagged" by graffiti artists sold at auction for some $22,000.
The door, the entrance to the apartment space above 51 X Gallery, features the work of leading graffiti artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Fab Five Freddie, Futura, and Zephyr.
A telephone bidder paid more than $25,000 Thursday for the door. The amount included the auction house Guernsey's commission..
That unsold door was more typical of the auction, the first major sale of work by graffiti artists. None of the other top lots, some of which Guernsey's had estimated would fetch as much as $100,000, found buyers.
However, both works by the late Basquiat, one of the important artists of the 1980s, found buyers. His untitled work in pencil that resembles a child's drawing of a car, a plane and some scribbling fetched about $20,000 including commission.
But works by Kenny Scharf, another prominent artist, failed to sell, and only a few Haring pieces found buyers.
Throughout the two sessions, even many lower-priced works were passed when bids as low as $200 could not be elicited in a room long on enthusiasm but apparently short on cash.