Two siblings of the late graffiti art icon Jean-Michel Basquiat are filing a lawsuit against Christie's auction house for selling Basquiat works they claim could be fakes, The New York Daily News reports.
The $1 million false endorsement and false advertising lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court.
Jeanine Basquiat Heriveaux and Lisan Basquiat allege that Christie's has failed to authenticate many of the roughly 50 pieces attributed to their brother on sale this month, claiming that Christie's approached the authentication committee in 2007 with seven pieces, of which only six were signed off as real Basquiats.
"The remainder of the catalog items were not only not authenticated by the authentication committee ... but also were never submitted to them for review," the plaintiffs to the Daily News.
The lawsuit alleges that Christie's did not bring the other works to the committee for authentication because they knew or had reason to believe that the works were fake, according to the Daily News.
Christie's responded to the lawsuit with a statement on Wednesday, adding that they have been "in direct and amicable contact" with the Basquiat estate.
"As a result of those talks, Christie's is moving forward with Thursday's First Open sale as planned, with the exclusion of a single lot to allow for further review and research," the statement said.
The piece in question is a steel radiator entitled "Milk," according to CBS New York. Basquiat's siblings claim that "an average person could see that the printing on the (items) was done by a number of different individuals."
The lawsuit also claims that even though the estate was not contacted to authenticate the pieces, Christie's still added a copyright notice to them.
"Christie's included the misleading notice to increase the auction prices ... and to maximize Christie's income from their sales," the suit reads.
The three most prominent pieces in the auction are "Milk," "Olive Oyl," and "Famous Negro Athletes," according to the Daily News.
Basquiat, who passed away in 1988 at the age of 27, has become increasingly popular since his death. Last year, his "Dustheads" painting set a new auction record at a Christie's auction for postwar and contemporary art in New York. The graffiti artist's piece fetched $48.8 million, breaking his previous record of $26.4 million set by his "Untitled," a painting of a black fisherman, at an auction in 2012.
