Press Release F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 0 1 8

Dondi Painting Sets World Record Price at artnet Auctions

Solid Formation S e l l s for 240,000 USD at O n l i n e A u c t i o n

O n l i n e - O n l y S a l e s of Fine Art Surge in Popularity

N e w Y o r k , F e b r u a r y 5 , 2018— The 1984 painting S o l i d F o r m a t i o n b y t h e i n f l u e n t i al artist Dondi White sold for 240,000 USD d u r i n g a n o n l i n e - only sale at artnet Auctions , the highest price ever ac hieved at auction for his w o r k . The painting had an estimated value of 50,000 – 70,000 USD and generated 2 6 b i d s . artnet Auctions, a core segment o f t h e a rt market data analytics provider a r t n e t AG, is the only pure play online platform for fine art auctions.

“The art market has e m b r a c e d online auctions as an expeditious and economical method to buy and sell fine art. W e a r e consistently achieving high prices online, making A u c t i o n s one of our biggest revenue drivers”, said Jacob Pabst, CEO of artnet .

T h e l a t e D o n d i , whose work rarely comes up at auction, was one of the k e y members of N e w York’s graffiti movement of the 1970s and 1980s. K n o w n a s “Style Master General” , he b e c a m e f a m o u s f o r s p r a y- painting entire subway c a r s with his carefully designed compositions . La t e r h e created canvas works , reiterating the lettering, symbolic icons and stick figures that had become his s i g n a t u r e in the urban environment .

Highly sought - after by collectors, two of Dondi’ s works have recently sold at a u c t i o n i n F r a n c e , each for more than 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 U S D . D u r i n g t h e l a s t ten ye a r s , h o w e v e r , h i s p aintings and drawings have come up a t a u c t i o n only 46 times . “ I suspect this sa le will entice more collectors to sell Dondi works as their value b e g i n s t o m i r r o r the magnitude of the artist’s influence on the genre”, said A l i c i a Carbone, artnet’s Vice Pres i d e n t o f Auctions & Private S a l e s .

Other works sold in the recent artnet Auctions sale Vandals: The Pioneers of G r a f f i t i included pieces by artists , and R a m m e l l z e e . Press Release F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 0 1 8

T h e s e l l e r o f D o n d i ’ s Solid Formation i s C E O o f t h e N e w Y o r k - b a s e d d i g i t a l b r a n d i n g a n d d e s i g n a g e n c y SQUEAKY . “I am excited that Dondi and the g raffiti pioneers are getting the recognition they deserve”, h e s a i d . He w i l l u s e some of the proceeds from the sale to take his employees on a mission trip t o El Salvador to support the children of the Remar orphanage in the town of El T u n c o .

Dondi White was an American graffiti artist best known for his dynamic lettering and stick figures. Born Donald Joseph White on April 7, 1961 , i n N e w York, he started his career in the early 1970s as part of a group of graffiti artists known as T O P ( T h e Odd Partners ) , w o r k i n g on subway lines. In 1977, Dondi formed t h e g r o u p C I A (Crazy Inside Artists) and established his reputation as one of the m ost stylistically innovative and influential graffiti artists of his generation. In 1980 , Dondi began to work on canvas and became associated with a group of artists in ’s East Village, including Futura, Keith Haring, and Jean - Michel Basquiat. O n O ctober 2, 1998, Dondi died of AIDS at the age of 37.

a r t n e t is the leading online resource for the international art market a n d t h e premier destination to buy, sell, and research art on the web. Founded in 1989 and publicly listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, artnet is the original art market disruptor. artnet’s Price Database contains more than 11 million illustrated auction results from more than 1,700 auction houses da ting back to 1985, providing unparalleled transparency to the art market. a r t n e t N e w s i s a 24- hour newswire covering events, trends, and people shaping the global art m a r k e t . artnet Auctions offers 24/7 worldwide bidding since 2008 and was the first online market p l a c e t o c r e a t e a seamless flow between collectors . T h e Gallery Network is a l e a d i n g platform connecting galleries with collectors from around the world.

For more information, please contact: Press Release F e b r u a r y 5 , 2 0 1 8

Rita Salpietro Director of Marketing +1- 2 1 2 - 4 9 7 - 9700 ext. 198 [email protected]