Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Anatomy is the artist’s first portfolio of prints and it distills many of the thematic qualities that define the artist’s early work. The series was created shortly after his inaugural solo exhibition, organized by the Annina Nosei Gallery in March of 1982. Nosei provided the artist with a studio in the basement of her gallery, where Anatomy was conceived.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Anatomy encapsulates Basquiat’s fascination with the human form and the written word. Beginning in early 1981, the artist produced hundreds of drawings and paintings depicting skulls and skeletons. Gianni Mercurio attributes the origins of his interest in anatomical forms to a particular incident, writing, “His childhood was rich source for many of the recurrent figures in his works, often drawn from texts such as Gray’s Anatomy, which was a gift from his mother while he was in the hospital after being hit by a car at the age of seven” (Gianni Mercurio, “The Moon King,” in Exh. Cat. Fondazione La Triennale de Milano, The Jean Michel Basquiat Show, p. 25).
It was in 1968, at the age of seven years old, that Basquiat first came in contact with the medical world. The young Basquiat was playing softball on his street in Brooklyn when he was hit by a car, resulting in a broken arm and various internal injuries. During his recuperation time in the hospital, his mother gave him a copy of the medical text Gray’s Anatomy, which he pored over and memorized. Filled with detailed anatomical drawings and diagrams, the book had a profound influence on the burgeoning artist who, throughout his oeuvre and particularly in his drawings and prints, has compulsively detailed fragments of the human body.
The portfolio conveys the artist’s profound attention to the technical functioning of the body, illustrating skulls, femurs, elbows, scapula, and pelvises, all rendered in white lines, set against a black background, evocative of an x-ray. Each body part is labeled, as it would be in a medical textbook. The incorporation of these notations into the compositions also signals the artist’s abiding interest in the intersection of language and visual forms. Richard Marshall notes, “What gives Basquiat’s works their special appeal is the fact that the words and symbols that he uses function almost like a code, serving to conceal various themes such as political, social or racial problems” (Richard Marshall quoted in Taka Kawachi, ed., King for a Decade: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tokyo 1997, p. 73). The viewer must look closely to decipher the fragmented bodies and esoteric language and determine whether their depiction might have some latent meaning.
Anatomy, 1982

Anatomy
The Complete Set of 18 screen-prints
Medium: Screen-print in black on Arches 88 wove paper
Year: 1982
Image: 29 5/8 x 22 inches (75.5 x 55.9 cm)
Sheet: 30 x 22 1/4 inches (76.4 x 56.5 cm)
Edition: 18
Artist’s Proofs: 7 (numbered in Roman numerals)
Publisher: Annina Nosei Gallery, New-York
Printer: Jo Watanabe, New York
Femur – Vertical Median

Male Pelvis

Three Different Conditions of Biceps Muscle

Lateral View

Ligament of the Elbow

Head of the Mandible

RGT. Clavicle

Female Pelvis

Posterior View

The Scapula

Table of Contents
2025 Auction Results
Posterior View, 1982
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 42,570

Posterior View, from Anatomy, 1982
Signed in pencil, from the edition of 18 (there were also 7 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Published by Annina Nosei Gallery, New York
The Scapula, 1982
Christie’s New-York: 26 February 2025
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 23,940
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled (The Scapula), from Anatomy, 1982
Screenprint on Arches paper
Signed in white colored pencil
A proof aside from the edition of eighteen
(there were also seven artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
The Ligaments of the Elbow and Superior Radio Ulnar Joints, 1982
Christie’s New-York: 26 February 2025
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 25,200
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled (The Ligaments of the Elbow and Superior Radio Ulnar Joints), from Anatomy, 1982
Screenprint on Arches paper
Signed in white colored pencil
A proof aside from the edition of eighteen
(there were also seven artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
3 Views of the Shoulder Joint Opened, 1982
Christie’s New-York: 26 February 2025
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 18,900
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled (3 Views of the Shoulder Joint Opened), from Anatomy, 1982
Screenprint on Arches paper
Signed in white colored pencil
A proof aside from the edition of eighteen
(there were also seven artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
2024 Auction Results
Head of the Mandible, 1982
Christie’s New-York: 14 March 2024
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 34,020

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled (Head of the Mandible), from Anatomy, 1982
Screenprint on Arches paper
Signed in white colored pencil
A proof aside from the edition of 18 (there were also seven artist’s proofs in roman numerals)
2023 Auction Results
Thyroid, 1982
Sotheby’s New-York: 19 July 2023
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 40,640

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
Thyroid, from Anatomy, 1982
Screen-print on Arches 88 wove paper
Signed in pencil Jean-Michel Basquiat (lower right)
This impression is presumably from the edition of 18 plus seven artist’s proofs
Ligaments of the Elbow, 1982
Phillips New-York: 20 April 2023
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 13,970

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Ligaments of the Elbow, from Anatomy, 1982
Screen-print in black on Arches paper
From the edition of 18 (there were also 7 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Phillips New-York: 20 April 2023
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 35,560

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
RGT Clavicle; and 3 Views of the Shoulder Joint Opened, from Anatomy, 1982
Two screen-prints in black on Arches paper
Both from the editions of 18 (there were also 7 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Phillips New-York: 20 April 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 53,440

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Femur, Vertical Median; Male Pelvis; Lateral View; and Three Different Conditions of Biceps Muscle, from Anatomy, 1982
Four screen-prints in black on Arches paper
All from the editions of 18 (there were also 7 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
Phillips New-York: 20 April 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 60,960

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Anterior View; Right Humerus; Female Pelvis; and Posterior View, from Anatomy, 1982
Four screen-prints in black on Arches paper
All from the editions of 18 (there were also 7 artist’s proofs in Roman numerals)
2022 Auction Results
Heritage Auctions: 19 April 2022
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 21,250

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Posterior View, from Anatomy, 1982
Screen-print on Arches 88 paper
Signed in pencil along lower edge
From the edition of 18
Christie’s New-York: 22 October 2021
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 9,375

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
The Scapula, from Anatomy, 1982
Screen-print on Arches 88 paper
Christie’s New-York: 22 October 2021
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 10,625

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Head of the Mandible, from Anatomy, 1982
Screen-print on Arches 88 paper
2. Sub-Sets and Complete Sets
Sotheby’s New-York: 24 October 2017
Estimated: USD 300,000 – 500,000
USD 372,500

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Anatomy: 18 prints, 1982
The complete set of 18 screen-prints on Arches 88 wove paper
Each signed in pencil and numbered [1-18]/2 on the verso, from the edition of 18


