A crude Jean-Michel Basquiat spray-painting of a cow and a skeleton with his male anatomy on full display sold for $37 million at a Christie’s auction last spring — but the buyer now has remorse and is reneging on the deal, according to a new lawsuit filed by the auction house.
Israeli-born New York resident Jose Mugrabi agreed to buy the 1981 acrylic, “The Field Next to the Other,” in May but has put up only $5 million so far, Christie’s says in its Manhattan Supreme Court filing.
Mugrabi missed a scheduled second $13.6 million payment Jan. 4 and the final installment Feb. 15.
So the auction house took the rare step of suing Mugrabi — one of its most prized clients, who owns 800 Warhols and regularly trades artwork with super dealer Larry Gagosian — over the debt.
The esteemed auction house has also barred the multimillionaire collector from participating in upcoming auctions.
And it wants not only its $32.1 million balance but another 16 percent interest, or $5.1 million.
Last year, the Times of London named Mugrabi, who built his fortune trading textiles, one of the world’s top 10 most important art dealers. The story says Mugrabi has amassed so many works by Warhol, Basquiat and Jeff Koons that he “controls the art world equivalent of the Dow.”
Mugrabi bought the painting, completed when the artist was just 20 years old, for above its $35 million high estimate. A description on Christie’s Web site says the “frenzied” and unfinished artwork is a comment on Basquiat’s “remarkable sense of self-confidence.”
A spokeswoman for the auction house told The Post, “W e repeatedly attempted to resolve this matter with Mr. Mugrabi . . . for close to one year. Unfortunately, our efforts failed, and Christie’s felt it had no other alternative but to litigate.”
Mugrabi didn’t return a message. His lawyer declined comment.