Ken Griffin Buys Painting for $100 Million

It's well documented we're big fans of Ken Griffin here. I think that goes for the majority of Chicago as well.

And how can you not be?

The guy is one of the rare, genuine billionaire humanitarian's out there.

In today's latest "Ken Griffin swings a massive-wrench news", he just bought a painting at auction by a late African American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, who was well known for his focus on issues of race and inequality.

Here is the painting. "Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump"

Crains Chicago - Citadel founder Ken Griffin paid more than $100 million for a canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat, the late black artist who focused on issues of race and inequality.

“The vast majority of Ken’s art collection is on display at museums for the public to enjoy” said Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman. “He intends to share this piece as well.”

The canvas, “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump” (1982), has long been a prized possession of newsprint magnate Peter Brant. Values for Basquiat works have soared since his death in 1988. Three years ago, a Basquiat painting fetched $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, setting an auction record for an American artist.

The sale would be a major event during normal times, but the art market has been in lockdown since March and private transactions have mostly stayed below $5 million, according to dealers and auction executives.

Griffin, who’s worth $15.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is a prolific collector who’s paid record prices for works by Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. He’s also a major donor to museums and is on the governing body of the Whitney Museum of American Art, whose lobby bears his name, as does a wing at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and a hall at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Art is hot in the streets right now. 

Our guys Chief and Eddie have been shedding light on the many ways the elite and underworld has used high priced art as a vehicle to clean money.

I'm not gonna sit here and pull your chain and tell you I know dick about art. I know what I like, what I think is good, and what I think is a ripoff. Like most of the shit at Art Basel. My rule is generally, if it looks like something one of my friends or I could do, its probably not worth hanging in a museum or paying a fortune for.

This passes the test though.

This painting is pretty fucking awesome.

I'm a big fan of works that incorporate man and man's best friend in them.

I own this famous piece from Mama DeVito. 

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I used to display it proudly for guests until my fiance made me take it down. 

Luckily for Ken Griffin, he gets to call the shots. And luckily for the public, he doesn't hoard all his art. He's what they call a big time benefactor. All his prized possessions (that we know of) hang in museums for the public to enjoy. As will this Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that the just acquired for $100 million. Must be nice.