Nicole Lapin

In 2017, Basquiat sold at Sotheby's for $110.5 million, a record at the time for an American artist.

Who bought it?

A Japanese billionaire.

Did he hang this art in his house?

He certainly did not.

It sat in storage until it was later sent on a museum tour.

Because again, it is not about decorating your home with this kind of art.

It's about building an

asset.

After buying the art, the next move is to ship it to a Freeport, which is a private tax-free storage facility in places like Geneva, Luxembourg, or Singapore.

Freeports are legal black boxes for high value assets.

You don't pay customs duties or taxes on the items stored there.

And because they're not technically in the country from a tax standpoint, government cannot touch them.

It's like the art enters this regulatory purgatory.

Here's where it gets really interesting.

Many of the most expensive works of art ever sold never leave these warehouses.

They're created, they're insured, they're stored, and then they're sold all over again, all without ever being hung up or even unwrapped.

According to the Geneva Freeport, over 1.2 million artworks are housed there, including works by Picasso, Monet, and Van Gogh.

Why?

Because inside a Freeport, the painting isn't just a painting.