Jean-Michel Basquiat
American • 1960-1988
Biography
One of the most famous American artists of all time, Jean-Michel Basquiat first gained notoriety as a subversive graffiti-artist and street poet in the late 1970s. Operating under the pseudonym SAMO, he emblazoned the abandoned walls of the city with his unique blend of enigmatic symbols, icons and aphorisms. A voracious autodidact, by 1980, at 22-years of age, Basquiat began to direct his extraordinary talent towards painting and drawing. His powerful works brilliantly captured the zeitgeist of the 1980s New York underground scene and catapulted Basquiat on a dizzying meteoric ascent to international stardom that would only be put to a halt by his untimely death in 1988.
Basquiat's iconoclastic oeuvre revolves around the human figure. Exploiting the creative potential of free association and past experience, he created deeply personal, often autobiographical, images by drawing liberally from such disparate fields as urban street culture, music, poetry, Christian iconography, African-American and Aztec cultural histories and a broad range of art historical sources.
Insights
Basquiat's Untitled, 1982, achieved $110.5 million at auction, making it the most expensive work to be sold by an American artist.
Basquiat's oeuvre is currently being celebrated at the Barbican Art Gallery's Basquiat: Boom for Real Barbican retrospective.
Past Lots
24
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Colored Boy Piano Player)
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £203,200
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132
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Oxygen Destroyer)
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000
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203
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Insect Order)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $35,560
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146
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Femur, Vertical Median; Male Pelvis; Lateral View; and Three Different Conditions of Biceps Muscle, from Anatomy
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $53,340
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147
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Anterior View; Right Humerus; Female Pelvis; and Posterior View, from Anatomy
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $60,960
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148
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Plate Ten); Untitled (Teeth); and Untitled (Plate 10), from Untitled: from Leonardo
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Sold for $27,940
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149
Jean-Michel Basquiat
RGT Clavicle; and 3 Views of the Shoulder Joint Opened, from Anatomy
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Sold for $35,560
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150No Reserve
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Two Portions of Bones); and Untitled (Plate 10), from Untitled: from Leonardo
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $29,210
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332No Reserve
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Ligaments of the Elbow, Etc., from Anatomy
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $13,970
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333No Reserve
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Plate 10); and Untitled (Two Portions of Bones), from Untitled: from Leonardo
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $22,860
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334No Reserve
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Plate Ten), from Untitled: from Leonardo
Estimate $3,000 - 4,000
Sold for $8,890
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30
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Eight works: (i–vii) Untitled from Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails; (viii) Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $196,850
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32
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Public Address group show at Annina Nosei Gallery 1982 invitation card
Price On Request
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33
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Basquiat at Annina Nosei Gallery 1982 announcement card
Price On Request
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34
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Copy of the December 11, 1978 issue of Village Voice newspaper featuring Basquiat’s first article
Price On Request
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35
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Price On Request
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36
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Figure with Blue Head)
Price On Request
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37
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Catharsis
On Loan
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38
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Basquiat Test Pattern
Price On Request
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39
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Price On Request
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40
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Squelette
Price On Request
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41
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Dog)
Price On Request
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155
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Vehement Alley Cats
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $69,300
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24
Jean-Michel Basquiat
To Repel Ghosts
Estimate $7,000,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for $7,862,500
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