Rumors are swirling that Kim Kardashian may be the owner of a $4.9 million Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that appeared at auction at Christie’s in 2017.
Kardashian has yet to officially confirm she is the buyer of the Basquiat painting, a 1982 canvas called Both Poles. But keen-eyed entertainment journalists noted in late October that Kardashian appeared to feature the painting in a Kris Jenner Instagram post including a picture of her house.
Both Poles is hardly the most expensive Basquiat ever sold at auction—others by the artist have sold for much larger sums. But if Kardashian really is its owner, that would be notable, since it means she would have one more Basquiat painting than most museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, which has no pieces by the artist in that medium in its collection.
Before it sold at Christie’s in 2017, Both Poles had not been seen on the market since its premiere at Larry Gagosian Gallery in 1982. Basquiat’s Gagosian show marked his Los Angeles debut.
The painting takes its name from the North and South Poles, both of which are referenced in text scrawled by Basquiat onto a sheet of paper placed on his canvas. Those words cryptically feature alongside images of a pickaxe and a TV tower.
Jenner’s Instagram from October showed pictures taken during a Wicked watch party held at Kardashian’s house. One picture showing tables draped in Oz-green cloths appears to display Both Poles casually hanging on a wall, with no one there to look at it.
E! first broke the news of Kardashian’s possible purchase of the Basquiat in October, labeling the painting a “$5 million piece of home decor.” The news had not hit the art press until this week, when Artnet News pointed out that the painting also seemed to have figured more obliquely in other Kardashian-related social media posts, including one Instagram in which her daughter Chicago eats ramen in front of a painting that looks like the Basquiat.
Kardashian’s art-collecting bona fides have not entirely been substantiated yet—the depth of her holdings, if she even buys art at all, remains unknown. But she has been the subject of two art-related stories in the past year or so, one of which involved an auction. In 2023, Kardashian battled Tom Brady for a George Condo painting during a charity sale; the football player ultimately won out, placing the winning bid of $500,000.
Meanwhile, Kardashian has more recently found herself in hot water after she was sued by the Donald Judd Foundation, which alleged that she had falsely claimed she had tables designed by the Minimalist sculptor. Kardashian’s lawyers have moved to dismiss the case, calling the suit “a ploy designed to maximize publicity.”
