Reputed billionaire and someone with absolutely no ties to the ongoing 1MDB scandal, Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, recently sold off several art pieces from his personal collection … at a loss.
Business Times reports that since at least February 3, Jho Low sold off pieces by Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and avantgarde New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat for about USD54 million.
Trouble is, Low came out at a significant loss from the sale of at least two of those pieces, three sources told the BT.
The art pieces were the headliners at an auction hosted by Sotheby’s, focusing on Impressionist, modern and contemporary art.
Picasso’s portrait of the artist’s paramour Marie-Therese Walter, was sold by Low for 18.9 million pounds – a figure that would seem more impressive if Low hadn’t bought it himself in November 2013 for 45% more money.
Similarly, Basquiat’s 1982 oil painting Untitled (Head of a Madman) fetched Low 11.6 million pounds, a 30% drop from his purchase price.
Low’s decision to sell – and to settle for less – comes as a surprise, as the property tycoon went on a shopping spree for extravagant artwork fairly recently in 2013 and 2014.
Is he going to take out a MARA loan soon?
