Unmasked

Sean Combs Revealed as Mystery Buyer of $21 Million Painting

Diddy’s apparently a big fan of Kerry James Marshall.

Sean Combs has been unmasked as the mystery buyer of a $21.1 million painting after days of speculation about which collector or museum bought the landmark work by Kerry James Marshall. The painting, Past Times, was auctioned Wednesday in a sale that was widely reported to be the most ever paid for the work of a living black American artist. Jack Shainman, Marshall’s gallerist and dealer, told The New York Times the buyer was in fact Sean “Diddy” Combs and not a gallery. “I know that this work has found a home in a collection with purpose and an eye toward preserving legacy—that of Sean Combs, and that means a lot,” said Shainman. He added that Combs was supposedly introduced to the painter’s work by fellow hip-hop recording artist and record producer Swizz Beatz.