Provenance
Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York
Private Collection, New York
Anon. sale, Drouot - C. Charbonneaux, June 15, 1988, lot 39
Private Collection, Europe
Christie's, London, February 9, 2005, lot 006
Private Collection, Europe
Phillips, London, October 16, 2013, lot 13, 2013
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
New York, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, Four Friends, October 25, 2007 - February 29, 2008
Literature
Richard D. Marshall, Jean-Louis Prat, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, 1996, vol. II, p. 62, No. 10 (illustrated)
Richard D. Marshall, Jean-Louis Prat, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, 2000, 3rd ed., p. 86-87, No. 10 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
Jean-Michel Basquiat painted Untitled in 1981, the year widely regarded as the greatest in his short but charged career. This was the year he made the transition from the streets to the studio. These early works married the gritty urbanism of graffiti with his particular and raw symbolism. Depicting the upper torso of an anonymous figure, Untitled embodies the best of Basquiat at his peak. Painted in the artist's archetypal naïve style, the figure, disproportionate in its bodily form, dominates the center of the composition. A central and recurring theme throughout his oeuvre, the human figure provided the perfect vehicle for merging autobiography with references to popular culture and African-American history.

Basquiat declared that “the black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings.” (Jean-Michel Basquiat, quoted in Henry Geldzahler, “Art: From the Subways to Soho, Jean-Michel Basquiat”, Interview, January 1983) Although the figure in the present lot is anonymous, he stands as a celebration of African-American achievements in a white dominated society. In Untitled, the figure has an elongated right arm; the hand is open revealing the palm and oversized fingers, perhaps alluding to crucifixion or an act of surrender. Further, it symbolizes protest and power, referencing the African-American civil rights movement and political activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. The black power salute came to represent the African-American civil rights movement of the 1960s, the apex of which was the defiant salute of the runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the medal ceremony in the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Basquiat’s unmistakable hand is visible throughout the composition, particularly his handling of the scarlet red, gun metal grey and fluorescent yellow color-fields. The energetic and urban-inflected lines of spray paint expand Cy Twombly’s style, which Basquiat cited as being of great influence. The face is typically crude, void of distinct features, a primitive mask-like rendering with an uncomfortably large circular mouth and sharp eyes offering a disconcerting glimpse into the troubled mind of the young artist. And yet, the figure is somewhat heroic, regal and commanding, identifying with Basquiat’s powerful artistic talent, going up against the predominantly white world of the art establishment.

Untitled, incorporates the most significant iconography from Basquiat’s repertoire. A crown or halo floats over the figure’s head, alluding to the process of canonization or regal assumption. The Xerox paper collage elements contain familiar motifs, the crown, baseball, and shoes, all illustrated in childlike manner. Untitled depicts the conflicted nature of Basquiat’s reality – a proud, incredibly talented black artist surrounded by images of the societally proscribed options seemingly available to a man of his background. successfully documents his stylistic range from expressive painting to conceptual collage and color-field painting. In turn, it follows the progressive construction of the artist’s discordant identity, of a man grappling with the reality that he could make little use of the patterns available to him. However unstable the artist’s personal life and standing, his work remains groundbreaking. Untitled, captures a seminal year of output of an artist who has redirected the course of art history.
Artist Biography
Jean-Michel Basquiat
American • 1960 - 1988
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.
View More Works

30

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled

1981
acrylic, spray paint, oilstick and Xerox collage on canvas
48 1/4 x 60 in. (122.6 x 152.4 cm)
Signed and dated "Basquiat 81" along the overlap. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Estimate
$2,000,000 - 3,000,000

Contact Specialist
Kate Bryan
Head of Evening Sale
New York
+ 1 212 940 1267

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 8 May 2016

1
Mike Kelley
Memory Ware #37
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $641,000
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2
Klara Lidén
Untitled (Poster Painting)
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $161,000
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3
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $305,000
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4
Marino Marini
Cavaliere
Estimate $900,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $905,000
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5
Jean Dubuffet
Barbe des rites
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $3,077,000
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6
Louise Bourgeois
Untitled (The Wedges)
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,925,000
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7
Mark Bradford
Building "The Big White Whale"
Estimate $3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for $3,525,000
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8
Mark Bradford
Mixed Signals
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $2,965,000
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9
Mark Bradford
Untitled (Corner of Desire and Piety) III
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $173,000
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10
Cindy Sherman
Untitled Film Still #5A
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $461,000
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11
Albert Oehlen
Lämmle live
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $845,000
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12
Martin Kippenberger
Plusquamperfekt - gehabt haben (Past Perfect - have had)
Estimate $600,000 - 900,000
Sold for $485,000
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13
Anselm Kiefer
Der Wolken heitere Stimmung
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $797,000
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14
Günther Förg
Untitled
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $815,000
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15
Glenn Ligon
Stranger in the Village #11
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,445,000
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16
On Kawara
Four Decades (OCT.13, 1970 / MAY 7, 1980 / NOV.22, 1990 / APR.16, 2000)
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $1,565,000
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17
Brice Marden
Star (for Patti Smith)
Estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for $5,989,000
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18
Christopher Wool
Untitled
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $725,000
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19
Marlene Dumas
Night Nurse
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,517,000
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20
René Daniëls
Eindelijk
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $269,000
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21
John Currin
Angela
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
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22
Maurizio Cattelan
Mini-me
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $749,000
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23
Jeff Koons
Jim Beam - Passenger Car
Estimate $900,000 - 1,400,000
Sold for $965,000
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24
Yayoi Kusama
INFINITY-NETS (QRTWE)
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,045,000
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25
Jeff Koons
Naked
Estimate $5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for $5,765,000
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26
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for $2,965,000
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27
Sherrie Levine
The Cradle
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $461,000
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28
Leon Kossoff
Two seated Figures no.1 (My Parents)
Estimate $350,000 - 450,000
Sold for $737,000
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29
Roy Lichtenstein
Metallic Brushstroke Head
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
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30
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
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31
Willem de Kooning
Tattooed Lady
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $365,000
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32
Willem de Kooning
Stenographer
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $485,000
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33
This lot is no longer available.
34
Takeo Yamaguchi
Work
Estimate $350,000 - 550,000
Sold for $509,000
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35
Joe Bradley
Mouth and Foot (Cock and Balls)
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $725,000
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36
Nate Lowman
White Escalade
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $365,000
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37
Sterling Ruby
SP25
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $581,000
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38
KAWS
Untitled
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $269,000
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20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

New York Auction 8 May 2016

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

Artist Biography

Jean-Michel Basquiat

30

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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