Christie’s auction house will auction a series of 45 never-before exhibited works from the early career of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a collection held by his former lover Alexis Adler from when the pair shared an apartment in the East Village from 1979 to 1980.  The online-only sale will be held in March, and features a mural the artist painted with the words “Olive Oyl” as the top lot, priced to sell for just over $400,000.  “He left this trail of art everywhere he went,” said Ms. Adler. (more…)

Alexis Adler, a former girlfriend of Jean-Michel Basquiat, has released news of a massive collection of the late artist’s drawings, photographs, and paintings, some scrawled on the walls and appliances of the East Village apartment that the two shared in the late 1970’s.  Given the artist’s current popularity, the collection is of particular note for its thorough documentation of much of Basquiat’s early development as an artist.  Adler is currently planning a book documenting the collection, as well as an auction of the work.  “The thing that’s most interesting is the material she has to support the actual artwork,” said former Gracie Mansion director Sur Rodney Sur. “A lot of the signage he used in his work over and over again, this was when he was developing it. The idea that it’s all together in one place makes it even more important.” (more…)