A Japanese fashion entrepreneur bought at a New York auction a skull painting by the late U.S. artist Jean-Michel Basquiat for around $110.5 million, marking the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by an American artist, according to auctioneer Sotheby's.

 painting (credit: ...)

 (2017 The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat/ADAGP, Paris/ARS/Sotheby's)

Yusaku Maezawa, who runs the "Zozotown" Japanese online clothing shopping site, purchased the 1982 Basquiat work "Untitled" on Thursday at a Sotheby's auction for an amount far exceeding the expected price of $60 million.

Maezawa, the president of Start Today Co., had bought another work by Basquiat in May last year for $57.3 million.

The untitled painting measuring 183.2 centimeters long and 173 cm wide was done in oilstick, acrylic and spray paint.

Basquiat, a New York native whose father was a Haitian, gained fame for his graffiti art on buildings. He died in 1988 at age 27 due to a drug overdose.