Untitled (Head), 1982

Sotheby’s New-York: 29 June 2020
Estimated: USD 9,000,000 – 12,000,000
USD 15,184,900

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT | UNTITLED (HEAD) | Contemporary Art Evening Auction | 2020 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960 – 1988)
UNTITLED (HEAD), 1982
Oilstick, ink and acrylic on paper
29 3/4 x 22 inches (75.6 x 55.9 cm)

Executed in 1982, Untitled (Head) is an explosion of vivid color and frenzied mark making which stands as one of the most accomplished of Basquiat’s iconic ‘Head’ paintings. Enduring as both idiosyncratic self-portraits and skull-like talismanic icons, the single ferocious figures revealed in works such as Untitled (Head) prevailed as a key conceptual anchor for Basquiat throughout his career, appearing in and dominating the majority of his best-known masterworks. Remarkable for its fierce intensity, arresting coloration and visceral aesthetic impact, Untitled (Head) is a supreme masterpiece that embodies the overwhelming power of Basquiat’s creative insurgency. Encapsulating the incredible dexterity and draftsmanship that defines the very best of the artist’s works, and extraordinary for its use of India ink under the oilstick to lend depth and contrast to the composition, Untitled (Head) is a heroic depiction that reflects the explosive talent and brilliance of its author. Itis an iconic work, as vivid and alive now as it was at the moment of execution.

The intensity and dynamism of Untitled (Head) are largely indebted to Basquiat’s instinctive and idiosyncratic mastery of line. All the artist’s most celebrated works, whether ‘Heads’, ‘Warriors’ or text heavy masterpieces such as Hollywood Africans, are defined by his use of oilstick. Basquiat was always drawing, whether he was working on paper or canvas, and it is as a function of this that his works on paper became a cornerstone of his practice. From 1983, as collage became one of his principal media, Xerox-ed drawings from his studio would become the substrate for his paintings. Rather than studies for his paintings, Basquiat’s drawings were literally foundational to his practice, and would provide the stimulus needed to work on a larger scale. This reliance on drawings as a source of inspiration is further evidenced by his retention of several pivotal works on paper in his own collection until his untimely death in 1988. This group, which included the present work, were exhibited together in his celebrated posthumous show at Robert Miller Gallery in 1990, the show that cemented the reputation of Basquiat’s works on paper as a pivotal part of his oeuvre.

Untitled, 1982

Christie’s New-York: 11 May 2015
Estimated: USD 9,000,000 – 12,000,000
USD 13,605,000

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (christies.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled, 1982
Oilstick and ink on paper
42 3/4 x 30 3/8 inches (108.6 x 77.2 cm)

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s frenzied and electric Untitled of 1982 depicts one of the artist’s most celebrated themes, rendered in rapid-fire execution in dynamic slashes of red, blue and black oilstick. The human head is among Basquiat’s most autobiographical subjects, which he obsessively explored particularly during the pivotal year of 1982. His depiction here is violently slashed and scribbled in a seemingly feverish attempt to produce on paper the inner workings of his own mind, which is especially felt in the jutting red slashes that seem to burst forth from the totemic figure’s head and neck. The work belongs to a series of heads from 1982, many of which can be regarded as self-portraits that were executed at a crucial moment in the artist’s meteoric rise to fame. Untitled bears witness to Basquiat’s humble origins as the street artist SAMO, yet it also displays the sophistication that, by this stage in his short but brilliant career, had already made him the undisputed star of the New York art world.

Untitled, 1983

Christie’s New-York: 13 May 2014
Estimated: USD 6,000,000 – 8,000,000
USD 7,445,000

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (christies.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled, 1983
Oilstick on paper
42 1/2 x 30 1/4 inches (107.9 x 76.8 cm)

With his signature quick-fire execution, Jean-Michel Basquiat assembles a dramatic series of lines, marks and gestures to produce this energetic self-portrait. The artist often worked at great speed, disgorging his thoughts onto the graphic surface with great force and vigor. In Untitled, he effortlessly shifts between passages of exacting detail–painstakingly worked to conjure up the features he desires–to more inscrutable zones where only the slightest of references are made to actual objects, the rest being left for the viewer to decipher. This rapidity is also evident in the unworked sections of the sheet, which includes traces of an imprint of Basquiat’s sneaker as well as being filled with the vestige of the artist’s oilstick that trails in the wake of his swiftly moving hand. Executed in 1983 at the height of the artist’s career, this work still bears witness to Basquiat’s humble origins as the street artist SAMO, yet it also displays the sophistication that, by this stage in his short but meteoric career, had already made him the undisputed star of the New York art world.

Brown Eggs, 1981

Sotheby’s New-York: 14 November 2019
Estimated: USD 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
USD 5,389,500

(#22) JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT | Brown Eggs (sothebys.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT
Brown Eggs, 1981
Oilstick on paper
24 1/4 X 18 inches (61.6 x 45.7 cm)
Titled; signed on the reverse

Rendered with ferocious intensity, the searing figurehead of Brown Eggs is a riveting embodiment of the instinctive and unrivalled brilliance which distinguished Jean-Michel Basquiat from the earliest years of his career. Executed in 1981, Brown Eggs exemplifies a selection of drawings that, in their haunting and unique renderings of skull-like heads, powerfully embody the extraordinary intensity, focus, and drive which fueled Basquiat at this pivotal moment in his burgeoning career. Within this rarefied corpus, the present work is remarkable for its saturated surface and exceptional diversity of mark-making; rendered in layers of furiously scrawled hazel and orange pigment, overlaid with furious incisions of black, scarlet, yellow, and blue, the frenzied intensity of Basquiat’s variegated strokes is contained only by crisp boundary of the sheet itself. Scrawled below the glowering figure, the inscribed title is irresistibly enigmatic, suggesting loaded commentary while evading clear translation. Vibrantly and densely-layered, the frenetic collision of mark, color, word, and form is, within Basquiat’s drawing, somehow transformed into a singularly sizzling composition that exemplifies the young artist’s effortless creative genius.

Furious Man, 1982

Christie’s New-York: 15 May 2013
Estimated: USD 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
USD 5,723,750

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (christies.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Furious Man, 1982
Oilstick, acrylic, wax crayon and ink on paper
30×22 inches (76.2 x 55.8 cm)

Emphasizing the frantic discharge of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s distinct expressive power, Furious Man is haunted by the artist’s idiosyncratic dark skeletal figure, which emerges from a golden blaze onto a flat sea of gray with his ghostly face, illuminated halo, and upraised arms. With its heavy application of materials and the ink exploding off the paper, the raw energy and urban-primitive aesthetic of Furious Man mockingly assumes the mantle of the noble-savage that Basquiat himself tried to break away from, and stands out as the artist’s ultimate critique of the constitution of black identity at the peak of his creative powers. Characteristically aggressive, in Basquiat’s faux-naïve style, the gaunt figure appears as an energetic, even frantic, caricature of the artist himself; a projection of Basquiat’s fears, anxieties, and rebellious rage. Equally empowered and bewildered, with sunken bloodshot eyes, and short electrified hair atop a skull-like head, Furious Man evokes a potent sense of panic at the immediate prospect of danger. Set against a background of scattered lines, rudimentary patterns, scribbles, stars and geometrical shapes, the psychological chaos characterizing the figures mental state is made all the more evident.

Ribs Ribs, 1982

Christie’s New-York: 15 May 2013
Estimated: USD 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
USD 5,163,750

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (christies.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Ribs Ribs, 1982
Oilstick on paper
97 x 95 3/4 inches (243.2 x 246.3 cm)
Signed Jean Michel Basquiat (lower right)

As one of the largest works on paper that Jean-Michel Basquiat ever executed, Ribs Ribs is an early example of the artist’s unique and remarkable style. Self-restrained, yet bursting with a diverse range of rich iconographic details, this monumental drawing demonstrates Basquiat’s incessant thirst for knowledge as he draws together and then disseminates his diverse range of interests including science, politics, childhood superheroes and his own rich cultural heritage. Leading the composition is Basquiat’s figure of a caped man, commanding yet also enigmatically transparent, his stylized rib cage clearly visible beneath the folds of his red and blue cape and re-enforced by the words RIBS RIBS written on either side of his sternum. In the figure’s left hand is a mace-like object, a piece of ancient weaponry that was often studded with sharp pieces of metal and used by foot soldiers to attack an enemy but is now more commonly used as a symbol of authority, as in the Parliamentary Mace used in the British House of Commons. In his other hand, the figure is holding a large bone, plucked from a row of four that Basquiat draws to his right. Topping off the composition, the figures wears a ‘crown of thorns’–a halo of light that hovers majestically above the figure’s head. Rendered in Basquiat’s distinctive schizophrenic style, parts of the composition are sparingly laid down whilst others are heavily rendered in primary colored oil paintstick. The rapid pace at which the artist works is driven by the speed of his thoughts as witnessed by the feverish renderings of the red and blue cape and the exquisite, more considered, detailing of the face. These are then complimented by a series of simple line drawings, giving the painting a more measured sense of balance.

Untitled, 1982

Christie’s New-York: 10 July 2020
Estimated: USD 3,000,000 – 5,000,000
USD 4,928,500

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) (christies.com)

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Untitled, 1982
Oil pastel and wax crayon on paper
30 1/8 x 22 1/4 inches (76.5 x 56.5 cm)
Signed with the artist’s initials ‘JMB’ (lower right)

An electrifying vision dating from the height of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s meteoric rise to fame, Untitled is an extraordinary work that showcases the virtuosic force of his graphic practice. Ablaze with fiery orange tones, a maniacal figure looms large, his red-cloaked hand outstretched against the void. His eyes swirl like kaleidoscopes; his mouth hangs open in ecstasy, revealing scant rows of colored teeth. Skeletal lines quiver like x-rays, while sparks and stars circle his head as if reeling from a knock-out. Rich swathes of pink and yellow create a vibrant backdrop, punctuated with lines and symbols that explode into space like fireworks. Rendered with all the chromatic and textural drama of an oil painting, the work demonstrates the vast, ambitious range of Basquiat’s draughtsmanship in the heady early stages of his career. Multiple influences collide: from the works of Pablo Picasso and Egon Schiele, to the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, ancient cave art, comics and anatomical textbooks. Loosely suggestive of Basquiat’s self-image, it is a vivid portrait of his creative process, conjuring the raw carnal energy with which he channeled his whirring imagination. Other elements of the artist’s symbolic universe shift in and out of focus: the messianic crown of thorns, the saintly halo and, perhaps, the glory of the boxing ring. It is a testament to the multiple personas—hero, martyr, victim and victor—through which he would present himself to the world.