Works by Basquiat, Picasso and Arbus at auction for the 1MDB case
US Marshals Service sells masterpieces seized from Jho Low: proceeds go to compensate victims of Malaysian corruption
3' min read
Key points
3' min read
The Jho Low affair continues to make headlines in the American press. The reason? Gaston and Sheehan, an auction house in Pflugerville, Texas, was commissioned by the US Marshals Service (USMS) to sell four artworks, one byPablo Picasso, two byJean-Michel Basquiat and one byDiane Arbus. The US Marshals Service (USMS) plays a key role in the identification and valuation of assets linked to the proceeds of criminal activity, as well as in the management and sale of assets seized and confiscated by the Department of Justice. The assets for sale were in fact handed over to the Department of Justice in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
To refresh one's memory, Jho Low, currently wanted by Interpol in several countries, is the 'charismatic' Malaysian financier caught in the crosshairs of one of the most sensational money laundering investigations ever conducted in the United States on charges of embezzling $4,5 billion dollars - between 2009 and 2015 - from the sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), created by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to fuel the country's economic development, but soon diverted to far less noble purposes.
The online auction
.The US Department of Justice then commissioned the sale, exclusively online, of the works. The auction started on 16 July and will end on 4 September. It should be noted that no buyer's premium will be paid for any of the artworks and, in addition, the proceeds of the federal seizures, which usually go to the Treasury Department, this time as they are linked to the 1MDB case will benefit people who have been harmed by corruption in Malaysia, according to ARTNews. A Department of Justice press release issued last June stated that about USD 1.4 billion had been repatriated at the time.
I bid on the works
.It is too early to predict how the auction will turn out, but by browsing the site of the US Marshals Service auction house, it is possible to check the bidding trend on the works for sale: Jean-Michel Basquiat's 'Self Portrait' (1982) and 'Red Man One' (1982), Pablo Picasso's 'Tête de taureau et broc' (1939) and Diane Arbus' 'Child with a Toy Hand Grenade'. Works of the highest level, but with auction bases described as "crazy" by experts. Here is the price level reached on 16 August. Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Self Portrait" (1982) and "Red Man One" (1982) fetched respectively $1,002,500 (49 bid) and $5,152,500 (34 bid) compared to an initial bid of $850,000 and $2.975 million. "Basquiat's 'Red Man One' (1982) had sold for $3.5 million, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's evening auction of contemporary art in New York in May 2009. Documents filed by the Department of Justice indicate that Basquiat's collage was purchased for USD 9.4m by the Helly Nahmad Gallery in New York in 2012 using proceeds from the sale of bonds for 1MDB.
Picasso's painting 'Tête de taureau et broc' (1939) against an initial bid of $850,000 reached $1,802,500 (49 bids) on 14 August. Documents filed by the Justice Department in June 2016 state that Picasso's painting, also known as 'Nature morte au crâne', had been purchased on 2 January 2014 using $3.28 million from the 2013 bond sale. The painting was given to Di Caprio the same month with a handwritten note that read 'Happy belated birthday! This gift is for you' and signed 'TKL', Low's initials.
