Basquiat's ‘Untitled’ to Be Displayed in New York for Last Time

‘Untitled’ by Jean-Michel Basquiat was acquired by Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa. (Sotheby's)
‘Untitled’ by Jean-Michel Basquiat was acquired by Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa. (Sotheby's)
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Basquiat's ‘Untitled’ to Be Displayed in New York for Last Time

‘Untitled’ by Jean-Michel Basquiat was acquired by Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa. (Sotheby's)
‘Untitled’ by Jean-Michel Basquiat was acquired by Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa. (Sotheby's)

It’s striking. The ghostly head, painted in bold lines, floats on a bright blue background. With angry eyes, the face gnashes its teeth out at the world, as blood-red streaks pull its black skull.

“Untitled,” brings Jean-Michel Basquiat’s unique energy to the Brooklyn Museum. The six-week show opened late January, and allows New Yorkers to experience the work up close, and say goodbye before “Untitled” travels to its permanent home in Japan, reported the German news agency.

Skulls were an often-used symbol of Basquiat, a Brooklyn native of African-Caribbean descent. The artist, who died in 1988 at age 27, frequently explored his roots as he navigated the art scene of New York’s Soho district.

The solo exhibition of “Untitled” pays homage to a hometown hero. Basquiat was connected to the Brooklyn Museum from an early age. His mother enrolled him as a junior member as a child, and often took him to the Metropolitan Museum.

Soon he commuted between Brooklyn and Manhattan, surrounding himself with musicians and graffiti artists. He tagged walls under the pseudonym "SAMO" long before gallery owners and collectors considered “street art” to be art.

Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa bought “Untitled” for $110.5 million from Sotheby's. The overwhelming sum is the highest price ever paid for an American artist’s work.



Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)

A wildfire spurred by hot summer winds reached France's second-largest city Tuesday, grounding all flights to and from Marseille, injuring at least nine people and forcing many residents to evacuate or barricade themselves indoors as smoke choked the Mediterranean air.

A big city hospital switched to generator power, train traffic was halted in most of the surrounding area, and some roads were closed and others tangled with logjams.

More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before racing toward Marseille. Some 720 hectares (acres) were hit by the blaze, the prefecture said.

Nine firefighters were injured, according to the prefecture, or local administration. No dead have been reported.

The prefecture said in a statement Tuesday evening that “the situation is under control,″ though the fire has not yet been extinguished. It described the fire as “particularly virulent.″

It came on a cloudless, windy day after a lengthy heat wave around Europe left the area parched and at heightened risk for wildfires. Several have broken out in southern France in recent days.

Light gray smoke gave the sky over Marseille’s old port a dusty aspect as water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire in the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants.

Hundreds of homes were evacuated. The prefecture urged people in the affected areas to stay indoors and off the roads. With the fire approaching Marseille, the prefecture also advised residents in the north of the city to keep windows closed to prevent toxic smoke from entering their homes.

One distressed family watched the smoke over their neighborhood in the hills above the port city and showed AP how the roof of their neighbor's house had been damaged in the fire as they worried about their own.

Marseille airport announced that the runway had been closed at around midday. The prefecture said train traffic was halted, notably after a fire neared the tracks in L'Estaque, a picturesque neighborhood of Marseille.

As a safety measure, the city's Hospital Nord switched to generators “due to micro power cuts.”

“The aim is to secure the imaging sector. We are not worried as we have a high level of autonomy,” the University Hospitals of Marseille said, adding that because of the disrupted traffic it asked workers to remain at their posts until the next teams starts its shift.