Flexible

Medium: 24 color screen-print on 4-ply Museum board
Year: 1984/2016
Image: 58 3/8 x 43 7/8 inches (148.3 x 111.4 cm)
Sheet: 60 1/2 x 45 1/2 inches (153.6 x 115.5 cm)
Edition: 85
Artist’s Proofs: 15
Other: 15 Hors Commerce (HC), 15 Printer’s Proofs (PP), 1 BAT (Bon A Tirer)
Publisher: Flatiron Editions, New-York, 2016

Each screen-print bears the signatures of Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, Administrators of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat on verso, as well as the stamps of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Flatiron Editions

Published by Pace Prints and the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2016, Flexible is a screenprint of the late artist’s wood-panel painting of 1984. Encapsulating his central themes, this piece celebrates Basquiat’s cultural legacy and reflects his lifelong exploration of African American and Caribbean traditions. Here, the figure depicted is a griot: a member of the poet-musician, storyteller class called to preserve a tradition of oral history in West African culture. Grinning, the figure’s abstracted, curving arms raise and loop above the head, crowning himself with a red, haloed crown of thorns. Seeking to canonize the Black male figure, noticeably absent from the history of Western painting, Basquiat visualizes this act of divination, negotiating ethnicity alongside questions of prestige and status. Simultaneously, he incorporates an x-ray vision of the body, as the griot’s lungs, bones, and cranium overlay the skin’s surface in white; thus, these internal structures also act as maps of interior consciousness, negotiating the public and private spheres of identity.

Phillips New-York: 17 May 2018
USD 45,415,000

In Flexible, Basquiat intertwines his diasporic cultural heritage with the urban influences of his New York City upbringing. Physically bringing the street into the studio, the wood panels were sourced from a fence in Basquiat’s backyard during his time in Venice Beach, California. Expressive, thick brushstrokes and frenetic scribbles of color play on top of the white horizontal slats as the 24-color screen-print faithfully recreates the plethora of textures and range of both color and materiality found in Basquiat’s experimental mixed media approach. In dialogue with his earlier prominence as the street artist SAMO, Flexible marks a transmutation of graffiti into a heralded piece of art laden with metaphor and history; this found material transformed into a unique picture support through his creative and experimental approach.

Subsequently, the wood slat fencing was used in more than 17 paintings between 1984 and 1986. With Flexible being the earliest of these material studies, this piece reflects Basquiat’s adept exploration of the relationship between image and surface, as the application of unorthodox material combinations would continue to define his oeuvre. Flexible —contorting yet unbreakable— this figure stands boldly against the rigidity of the wooden planks, encapsulating Basquiat’s character as a radiant artist negotiating the elite art world through his unique poeticism.

Basquiat at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1984. Image: © Tate, London, Artwork: © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

Basquiat’s narration of the heroic black male was a focal theme in his body of work. At a young age, while visiting museums, Basquiat noticed the absence of people of color in Western art, relegated to inferior positions. In response, he elevated his ‘black heroes’ in his paintings, predominantly sportsmen and jazz musicians, and even self-portraits, as key figures, forcefully countering this racial imbalance. He later moved on to conveying them as divine beings or kings, with the original Flexible, executed in 1983, ushering in this new dawn of the black male. This figure is a griot – a storyteller, musician, and purveyor of oral history from West African culture, and is as much a divine apparition as a living human being. One of Basquiat’s constant avatars, his depiction of griots gives voice to a legacy that was long suppressed, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and oral history in preserving cultural identity for future generations. With its austere and assertive background surface, the figure references sculptural representations of the deific. An oversized head, wide, slanted and partially closed eyes, a broad flat nose and mouth with prominent teeth, and cowry shells surrounding the eyes and along the hairline all indicate that Basquiat was influenced by sub-Saharan African source material. Instilling his figure with the same attributes of dignity, power and the sacred, the artist made an even stronger statement by devising a new picture support for his paintings of divinity figures.

Jean-Michel Basquiat pictured in his Studio with ‘Flexible’ © Lizzie Himmel, 1986. Artwork © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat / 2018. Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Evoking malleability and adaptability, Flexible is a term that, is defined as bending without breaking, easily moulded, and responsive to new circumstances. The unbridled and uninhibited arm movements captured reveal a sense of freedom and playfulness, a deviation from the orderly and regimented picture support. This unconventional approach is a testament to Basquiat’s confident and audacious artistic vision. He stretches the limits of the human form, capturing the figure’s arms as they extend upward and join together, symbolizing both heroism and sanctity. Basquiat takes risks, exploring new territory and expanding his pictorial language, confident in his ability to mould and shape his subjects to his will: limbs are elastic, strong, and resilient, contorting but never breaking.

Auction Results

Poly Auction Hong-Kong: 27 November 2024
Estimated: HKD 480,000 – 600,000
HKD 576,000 / USD 74,010

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Flexible, 2016
Screenprint
Editioned ’24/85′ (lower right)

Phillips New-York: 16 April 2024
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 82,550

Christie’s New-York: 28 October 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 88,200

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Flexible, 2016
Screenprint in colors on museum board
Signed and dated ‘5⁄13/16’ by the Basquiat Foundation administrators in pencil on a label affixed to the reverse
Numbered 31⁄85 (there were also fifteen artist’s proofs)

Phillips New-York: 26 October 2023
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 127,000

Christie’s online: 19 July 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 126,000

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Flexible, 2016
Screen-print in colors on museum board
Signed and dated ‘5/13/16’ by the Basquiat Foundation administrators in pencil
With the artist’s estate stamps on a label on the reverse
Annotated ‘BAT’ (a bon à tier proof, the edition was 85, plus fifteen artist’s proofs)

Sotheby’s Singapore: 2 July 2023
Estimated: SGD 70,000 – 100,000
SGD 381,000 / USD 281,742

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
Flexible, 1984-2016
Screen-print on museum board
Numbered HC 4/15 (lower right)
Signed Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux (certificate of authenticity)
Hors commerce number 4 from an edition of 85, plus 15 artist’s proofs

Phillips New-York: 21 June 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 90,000
USD 88,900

Phillips Hong-Kong: 25 May 2023
Estimated: HKD 450,000 – 650,000
HKD 533,400 / USD 68,081

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Flexible, 1984/2016
Screen-print in colors on heavy wove paper with full margins
Numbered ‘AP 10/15’ lower right
An artist’s proof 10 from an edition of 85 plus 15 artist’s proofs
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Signed, numbered and dated by administrators of the Estate

SBI Art Auction: 11 March 2023
Estimated: JPY 7,000,000 – 13,000,000
JPY 21,275,000 / USD 157,544 (incl. Premium)

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 14 September 2022
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 1,008,000 / USD 128,427

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
Flexible, 1984/2016a
Screen-print on museum board
Numbered HC 5/15
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux on the certified label affixed to the reverse
Hors commerce number 5 from an edition of 85, plus 15 artist’s proofs

Bonhams London: 11 November 2021
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 94,000 / USD 125,803

Phillips New-York: 21 October 2021
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 88,200

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Flexible, 1984-2016
Numbered ‘AP 12/15’ in pencil on the front
Signed and dated ‘5/13/16’ by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux in pencil

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 10 October 2021
Estimated: HKD 500,000 – 700,000
HKD 630,000 / USD 80,930

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
Flexible
Screen-print on museum board
Numbered 73/85
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux on the certified label affixed to the reverse

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 21 June 2021
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 756,000 / USD 97,336

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
Flexible
Screen-print on museum board
Numbered HC 4/15
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux on the label affixed to the reverse

Tate Ward Auctions: 24 March 2021
Estimated: GBP 40,000 – 50,000
GBP 60,000 / USD 82,315

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Flexible, 1984-2016
Screen-print in colors on heavy wove paper
Numbered in pencil from an edition of 15 APs, aside from the main edition of 85
Signed and dated by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux in pencil verso

Phillips London: 21 January 2021
Estimated: GBP 40,000 – 60,000
GBP 63,000

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Flexible, 1984-2016
Numbered 55/85 in pencil on the front
Signed and dated ‘5/13/16’ by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux in pencil

Sotheby’s New-York: 22 October 2020
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 63,000

AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1966 – 1988)
FLEXIBLE, 2016
Screen-print in colors on museum board
Signed in pencil on a label affixed to the reverse by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux
The administrators of the Basquiat Foundation
Dated ‘5/13/16’, numbered 66/85 on the recto

Sotheby’s New-York: 14 May 2020
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 93,750

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Flexible, 1984-2016
Numbered HC 13/15
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux

Christie’s New-York: 3 March 2020
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 68,750

Flexible, 1984-2016
Numbered 19/85 and dated ‘5/13/16′ in pencil
With the Basquiat Foundation administrators’ signatures
And the artist’s estate stamps on a label on the reverse