Basquiat's 'Museum Security' Withdrawn from Christie's Amid Legal Dispute Between Churchill Heir and Mugrabi Family

A legal battle has erupted over Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1983 painting 'Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown)' after it was withdrawn from Christie's London evening sale. The work was originally sold in September 2011 by Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill, a descendant of Winston Churchill, to the Mugrabi family's Jombihis Corporation for $6.125 million. The Mugrabis later consigned it to Christie's with a third-party guarantee, estimating it at $9–12 million, with over $8 million covered by the Mugrabis themselves, who stood to gain 50% of any sale above that. However, Spencer-Churchill then claimed he had been deceived by the Mugrabis, alleging that his dealer sold the painting to the Mugrabi family despite his explicit instructions not to sell to them and for no less than $6 million. The dealer sold it for $6 million plus a $125,000 commission. Spencer-Churchill initiated legal proceedings, resulting in Alberto Mugrabi losing both the painting and the potential profit from the guarantee.