Gabrielle Union gets what Gabrielle Union wants -- even if that means shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for street art.
Gabrielle was doing an interview to promote a book at the Epic Hotel in Miami, where an art exhibit was also going down at the Avant Gallery.
Gabrielle stumbled in and came across 17-year-old street artist Skyler Grey's artwork -- a painting of famed NYC artist Jean-Michel Basquiat as Juan Ponce de Leon. He calls it "King Jean Michel."
Gabby liked what she saw and dropped $40k for the 50" x 65" piece ... straight-up.
Turns out this is not a crazy amount of money for Skyler's work. We're told the $40k range is his going rate. He's sold pieces to Diddy, Nick Cannon, The Game, and former L.A. Dodgers player Carl Crawford.