painting by jean-michel bisquiat. was auctioned off thursday night for $110.5 million, the most ever for an american art work. ouny dokoupil has more on the late brooklyn street artist who is now being compared to picasso and warhol. >> reporter: the untitled piece from 1982 is the work of a 21-year-old artist, whose paintings just two years earlier had been selling for less than $100. it's now the first painting by an american to sell at auction for more than $100 million. >> that's a lot of money for anything. it's a heck of a lot of money for a painting. >> reporter: jerry saltz is uhe senior art critic for "new york" magazine. >> in this skull, you see a head in profile and staring directly at you, you get the sense of a mind burning itself up right in idont of your eyes. >> reporter: the winning bid came from a japanese billionaire cho announced the purchase on instagram. for years, bisquiat's paintings have been selling for tens of elllions of dollars. jay-z, a fellow brooklyn native, has frequently rapped about