METALLICA Drummer Sells BASQUIAT 'Boxer' Painting For $12 Million

According to The New York Times, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich found a buyer for "Untitled (Boxer)", a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, in a sale of contemporary art at Christie's on Wednesday (November 12). Depicting a victorious black boxer against a richly painted background filled with the artist's signature graffiti scrawl, it was estimated at $12 million to $16 million, and a buyer on the telephone bought it for $12 million, or $13.5 million including commission.

Lars Ulrich told The New York Times in an interview last month. "Of course it's an awkward time to sell, but I've always been about taking chances.

"I have a lot of faith in the art market," he added. "It's perhaps the last frontier where the best of the best will not go the way of the rest of the economy."

In 2002 Ulrich sold five works at a Christie's auction in New York, including Basquiat's "Profit I" (1982),which brought $5.5 million, a record for the artist at the time.

"Untitled (Boxer)", 1982 - Acrylic and oil paintstick on linen, 76 x 94 in.