Leg of a Dog, from Da Vinci

Medium: Screen-print on Okiwara rice paper
Year: 1983
Sheet: 40 1/8 x 31 1/4 inches (101.9 x 79.4 cm)
Edition: 20 of which 11 are signed
Publisher/Printer: New City Editions, Venice, California

Jean-Michel Basquiat created this print in 1983, towards the end of his tragically short life. These works speak to his academic interest in anatomy that can be seen throughout his oeuvre. The artist’s knowledge of anatomy came through studying a wide range of texts from Gray’s Anatomy to Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, of which these renderings were inspired by. In the artist’s signature handwriting, notes stating “from a DaVinci” are placed to annotate the studies that make up the composition. The present work depicts a variety of renderings from that of a foot, jaw and leg of a dog which all recall gestural figure drawings to more sparse illustrations devoted to the specifics of individual bones. Throughout, Basquiat’s sketched lines belie his in-depth knowledge. Leg of the Dog displays the skillful combination of image and text that Basquiat honed early on in the New York graffiti scene.

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