The Figure Portfolio
A portfolio of five hand pulled limited edition screen-prints
Medium: Hand-pulled screen-print in colors
Year: 1982/2023
Size: 48×32 inches (122×81 cm)
Edition: 85
Publisher: Flatiron Editions, New-York
Printer: Brand X Editions, New-York
Stamped and signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, the artist’s sisters and administrators of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat is pleased to announce the release of The Figure Portfolio, a series of five Basquiat hand-pulled screen-prints (1982/2023), published by Flatiron Editions.
The screen-prints, each in an edition of 85, depict works created in 1982 as oilstick on paper drawings, all executed in the same timeframe in a unique style not directly replicated in other Basquiat artworks. The intensity of linework rendered in the backgrounds of each of these energetic drawings explodes into focus in each of the central foreground figures, giving them a radiant presence amidst their chaotic, yet balanced environments. Four of the five drawings illustrate single standing figures with arms outstretched in positions of power, with a standing male and female couple depicted in the fifth drawing.
These powerful images maintain classic elements of Basquiat’s signature style and iconography — the crown, abstract shapes, and the use of letters and language — while exhibiting a distinctive feel across all five artworks.
Equal parts poet and painter, Basquiat challenged the art world binary of high and low, merging European and “primitive” through a neo-expressionist, painterly style that is nearly impossible to categorize. Recent exhibitions include “Boom For Real” at the Barbican Centre in London (2017; traveled to the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt in 2018); “Jean-Michel Basquiat” at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (2018; traveled to the Brant Foundation in New York in 2019), “King Pleasure” at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York (2022; traveled to the Grand LA in Los Angeles (2023), “Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2022; traveled to the Paris Philharmonic in 2023), and “Basquiat. The Modena Paintings” at the Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland (2023).
The Figure Portfolio: Untitled I
The Figure Portfolio: Untitled II
The Figure Portfolio: Untitled III
The Figure Portfolio: Untitled IV
The Figure Portfolio: Untitled V
Auction Results
Phillips London: 23 January 2025
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 33,020 / USD 40,790
AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Untitled III, from The Figure Portfolio, 1982/2023
Screenprint in colors on Saunders Waterford paper
Numbered 32/85 in pencil on the front (there were also 20 artist’s proofs)
Signed and dated ‘8/3/23’ by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux in pencil
(the artist’s sisters and administrators of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat)
On the stamped Certificate of Authenticity on the reverse
LA Modern: 10 January 2024
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 40,000
USD 30,240
AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Untitled IV (from The Figure portfolio), 1982 / 2023
Screenprint in colors on Saunders Waterford
Numbered to lower left ‘68/85’
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux and dated to verso ‘8/3/2023’ with estate stamp
LA Modern: 10 January 2024
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 40,000
USD 30,240
AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Untitled III (from The Figure portfolio), 1982 / 2023
Screenprint in colors on Saunders Waterford
Numbered to lower left ‘68/85’
Signed by Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux and dated to verso ‘8/3/2023’ with estate stamp