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Lot Essay
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled from 1984 highlights the polyvocal lexicon that became the foundation of his trademark style. An encyclopedic display of symbols, text, signs, and signifiers, the work unfurls a narrative amidst the anatomical drawings that encompass it. Originally a graffiti artist in the subways of New York City, Basquiat quickly rose to pop-culture stardom in the 1980s, integrating various cultural, historical, political, and religious influences into his work. When he was six years old, Basquiat received a copy of Grays Anatomy from his mother after he underwent surgery following a car accident. The 1966 illustrated book of Leonardo da Vinci drawings became an important inspiration for Basquiat throughout his career, typified in Untitled.
An anatomical diagram of a human face, Untitled prominently features Basquiat’s strong linear dexterity. He infuses each marking with symbolism, placing it in a larger personal and socio-political context. While Untitled examines the anatomy of the human face, it also explores Basquiat’s own oeuvre as an artist. Within quoted titles, he references his own earlier works such as Philistines (1982), Jawbone of an Ass (1982), and Per Capita (1981), each marked with a copyright symbol or, in the case of Jawbone of an Ass, emphasized in a hand-drawn box.
The tear duct of the face is framed by three lines resembling wrinkles and marked with the text “CROW’S FEET” TM. Though the exact meaning of all Basquiat’s text may forever remain coded, they are marked with signature symbols that point towards his originality. Thrust into the art world before the age of twenty-one, Basquiat was particularly fascinated by words relating to systems of buying and selling, power, wealth, value, and authenticity. The trademark symbol following “CROW’S FEET” is a nod towards brand protection while the copyright symbols that emblazon the entirety of the work are a sign of authorship. The copyright symbol, in particular, is also an acknowledgement of SAMO©, Basquiat’s moniker as a graffiti artist.
Other signifiers scattered throughout the work are taken from various sources. The quarter placed over the proper right eye of the figure's visage refers to the ancient Greek tradition of placing coins on the eyes of the dead in order to pay the ferryman who would shepherd the dead across the river Styx. Underneath this symbol, Basquiat writes "Fig. Nose Broken Off (Statue)" and underneath crosses out "By English Anthropologists." This directly relates to the troubled history of collecting classical antiquities, especially by European travellers who would gather and transport antiquities in pieces from their original locations. The references to noses and broken noses may also relate to Basquiat's good friend Andy Warhol's Before and After, 1961, which shows an image of a woman's face before and after a nose job, taken from an advertisement.
Appearing more human-like than his other works on paper, this particular piece integrates deliberately sketched-out characteristics of facial anatomy with Basquiat’s own textual musings. A quarter at the center of the work replaces what would be a human eye. In the artist’s trademark handwriting, the text on the quarter reads “e pluribus unum” or “from many, one” where the “unum”—alluding to America’s unity—is crossed out. This purposeful detail points towards Basquiat’s grappling with his own liminal identity as a Haitian-Puerto Rican growing up in the racial and economic crosshairs of the United States.
Basquiat’s interest in the body’s internal workings could stand as a leitmotif for his art as he peels away superficiality to expose the inner flesh of American life. As Jeffrey Hoffeld observed, “Basquiat’s repeated use of anatomical imagery—skeletons, musculature, and internal organs—coincides with an ever more widespread tendency in his work to turn things inside out. Inner thoughts are made public in graffiti-like litanies of words and other bursts of expression; distinctions between private spaces and public places are dissolved; past and present are interwoven, and levels of reality are multiplied and scrambled; the imagined realms of paradise, hell, and purgatory become indistinguishable” (J. Hoffeld, “Basquiat and the inner self,” in Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gemälde und Arbeiten auf Papier (Paintings and works on paper), exh. cat. Museum Würth, Künzelsau 2001, p. 27).
Executed in 1984, Untitled was completed during a transformative year in Basquiat’s career. In 1983, he moved into a loft space owned by Andy Warhol. The new space allowed him to create works with greater material richness and thematic complexity. 1984 marked the year of his first solo museum show at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, which went on to travel to London’s Institute of Contemporary Art. After these shows, Basquiat’s career began to take off. As Untitled illustrates, Basquiat was able to master a quickfire, stream-of-conscious process of selection and composition, creating works neither overwhelmed nor unbalanced despite all their density and multiplicity. This particular work is emblematic of the kaleidoscopic visual and poetic lyricism that set Basquiat apart.
Known as a Neo-Expressionist, Basquiat pioneered his own visual vernacular, eventually elevating his graffiti-like style into the New York gallery scene. Packing his works with symbols mined from books, television, newspapers, and the streetscapes of New York, he played with semiotics to highlight touchstones from everyday life, art history, culture, and socio-politics. As Basquiat scholar, Richard Marshall, explained, “He continually selected and injected into his works words which held charged references and meanings—particularly to his deep-rooted concerns about race, human rights, the creation of power and wealth, and the control and valuation of natural elements, animals and produce—all this in addition to references to his ethnic heritage, popular culture, and respected of infamous figures from history and the entertainment world” (R. Marshall, “Repelling Ghosts,” in Jean-Michel Basquiat, exh. cat. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1993, p. 151).
A voracious amalgamation of various cultural and textual sources, Untitled highlights Basquiat’s ability to converse on economic, cultural, political, and personal topics through his practice. This work exemplifies the spontaneity of graffiti that made Basquiat famous while exposing his polyvocal fabric of information in a manner that would turn him into a cultural icon.
An anatomical diagram of a human face, Untitled prominently features Basquiat’s strong linear dexterity. He infuses each marking with symbolism, placing it in a larger personal and socio-political context. While Untitled examines the anatomy of the human face, it also explores Basquiat’s own oeuvre as an artist. Within quoted titles, he references his own earlier works such as Philistines (1982), Jawbone of an Ass (1982), and Per Capita (1981), each marked with a copyright symbol or, in the case of Jawbone of an Ass, emphasized in a hand-drawn box.
The tear duct of the face is framed by three lines resembling wrinkles and marked with the text “CROW’S FEET” TM. Though the exact meaning of all Basquiat’s text may forever remain coded, they are marked with signature symbols that point towards his originality. Thrust into the art world before the age of twenty-one, Basquiat was particularly fascinated by words relating to systems of buying and selling, power, wealth, value, and authenticity. The trademark symbol following “CROW’S FEET” is a nod towards brand protection while the copyright symbols that emblazon the entirety of the work are a sign of authorship. The copyright symbol, in particular, is also an acknowledgement of SAMO©, Basquiat’s moniker as a graffiti artist.
Other signifiers scattered throughout the work are taken from various sources. The quarter placed over the proper right eye of the figure's visage refers to the ancient Greek tradition of placing coins on the eyes of the dead in order to pay the ferryman who would shepherd the dead across the river Styx. Underneath this symbol, Basquiat writes "Fig. Nose Broken Off (Statue)" and underneath crosses out "By English Anthropologists." This directly relates to the troubled history of collecting classical antiquities, especially by European travellers who would gather and transport antiquities in pieces from their original locations. The references to noses and broken noses may also relate to Basquiat's good friend Andy Warhol's Before and After, 1961, which shows an image of a woman's face before and after a nose job, taken from an advertisement.
Appearing more human-like than his other works on paper, this particular piece integrates deliberately sketched-out characteristics of facial anatomy with Basquiat’s own textual musings. A quarter at the center of the work replaces what would be a human eye. In the artist’s trademark handwriting, the text on the quarter reads “e pluribus unum” or “from many, one” where the “unum”—alluding to America’s unity—is crossed out. This purposeful detail points towards Basquiat’s grappling with his own liminal identity as a Haitian-Puerto Rican growing up in the racial and economic crosshairs of the United States.
Basquiat’s interest in the body’s internal workings could stand as a leitmotif for his art as he peels away superficiality to expose the inner flesh of American life. As Jeffrey Hoffeld observed, “Basquiat’s repeated use of anatomical imagery—skeletons, musculature, and internal organs—coincides with an ever more widespread tendency in his work to turn things inside out. Inner thoughts are made public in graffiti-like litanies of words and other bursts of expression; distinctions between private spaces and public places are dissolved; past and present are interwoven, and levels of reality are multiplied and scrambled; the imagined realms of paradise, hell, and purgatory become indistinguishable” (J. Hoffeld, “Basquiat and the inner self,” in Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gemälde und Arbeiten auf Papier (Paintings and works on paper), exh. cat. Museum Würth, Künzelsau 2001, p. 27).
Executed in 1984, Untitled was completed during a transformative year in Basquiat’s career. In 1983, he moved into a loft space owned by Andy Warhol. The new space allowed him to create works with greater material richness and thematic complexity. 1984 marked the year of his first solo museum show at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh, which went on to travel to London’s Institute of Contemporary Art. After these shows, Basquiat’s career began to take off. As Untitled illustrates, Basquiat was able to master a quickfire, stream-of-conscious process of selection and composition, creating works neither overwhelmed nor unbalanced despite all their density and multiplicity. This particular work is emblematic of the kaleidoscopic visual and poetic lyricism that set Basquiat apart.
Known as a Neo-Expressionist, Basquiat pioneered his own visual vernacular, eventually elevating his graffiti-like style into the New York gallery scene. Packing his works with symbols mined from books, television, newspapers, and the streetscapes of New York, he played with semiotics to highlight touchstones from everyday life, art history, culture, and socio-politics. As Basquiat scholar, Richard Marshall, explained, “He continually selected and injected into his works words which held charged references and meanings—particularly to his deep-rooted concerns about race, human rights, the creation of power and wealth, and the control and valuation of natural elements, animals and produce—all this in addition to references to his ethnic heritage, popular culture, and respected of infamous figures from history and the entertainment world” (R. Marshall, “Repelling Ghosts,” in Jean-Michel Basquiat, exh. cat. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1993, p. 151).
A voracious amalgamation of various cultural and textual sources, Untitled highlights Basquiat’s ability to converse on economic, cultural, political, and personal topics through his practice. This work exemplifies the spontaneity of graffiti that made Basquiat famous while exposing his polyvocal fabric of information in a manner that would turn him into a cultural icon.