A monumental work by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat with an estimate “in excess” of $45 million will head to auction this spring. The painting, Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) (1983), will lead Sotheby’s contemporary evening auction in New York in May. Starting today, March 10th, it will be on public view at the auction house’s Breuer Building headquarters until March 15th. It will then travel to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and London before returning to New York for the May sale. According to Sotheby’s, the painting is one of the most significant and complex works ever painted by Basquiat. It belongs to a suite of 12 exquisite works he made that year and features his signature visual lexicon of symbols, signs, and text. These motifs, including crowns, skulls, and stars, also appear in related works from the year, such as Hollywood Africans (1983). Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) was executed during a period of prolific output that marked his astronomical ascent from downto...