Metallica drummer to sell Basquiat painting

updated 12:53 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2008

NEW YORK - Lars Ulrich, songwriter and drummer for the heavy-metal band Metallica, is selling a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting from his art collection that could set a new auction record for the artist.

“Untitled (Boxer)” was painted in 1982 by Basquiat, a graffiti artist who died of a drug overdose in 1988 when he was just 27. It depicts a black heavyweight fighter with his arms thrust in the air against a graffiti-filled background.

Christie’s New York will sell it on Nov. 12. It says the painting is estimated to bring more than $12 million. The current auction record for a Basquiat is $14.6 million for “Untitled,” a painting of a primitive figure with large hands that sold at Sotheby’s last year.

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