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Lot Essay
Painted at the peak of the artist's meteoric rise to artworld supremacy, Untitled is a 1982 work from one of Jean-Michel Basquiat's most prolific years in his artistic career. A breakthrough year for Basquiat, he debuted his first historical solo exhibition at Annina Nosei in New York, followed by another one-man show at the reputable Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles and Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, as well as being the youngest among 176 well-established artists in Documenta 7 in Kassel during the same year. Suddenly possessing the stardom and being under the spotlight of the art world, Basquiat became the anointed king in this domain, in which Untitled came to possess a certain visionary relevance.
Demonstrating the artist's thrilling and dynamic artistic language, Untitled exudes a visceral power with every brush mark. Of the painted area, the background bleeds an empowering, solid red wash of colour with a skeleton silhouette outlined with stark black oilstick. Trapped within this confined area with only a tiny chair, the holloweyed central figure is desperate to make his way out of it. A beacon of light radiates from the dome ceiling, suggesting a sense of hope and empowering the figure who is about to break free from this space with the hammer held in hand. The dome shape, coloured in yellow, also resembles gold royal crowns, rendering Untitled a portrait of a king and a self-referential painting representing Basquiat's personal journey, in the similar way as the rooted royal portraits in the history of art.
The working method as seen in Untitled also suggests his determination and urgency in changing the fate and perception of black artists. Well aware of his identity as a black artist in the whitedominated history of art during the 20th century, Basquiat's legacy changed the culture in terms of how black artists are perceived in the art world. Seen from in the delineation of the skeleton figure, the artist creates a primitive artistic language that shares both the impulsive quality of New York City graffiti art and the childlike aesthetic characteristic of Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut, resulting in his unique, buoyant style. Among all the works in his brief yet accomplished career, more than half of the top 10 auction record of Basquiat are creations from 1982. Liberated from the confines of traditional artistic production, Basquiat rebelled against the mainstreams within the established art world. In doing so, he himself became epitome and paragon for an entire era of artists who positioned themselves against the institutions.
Demonstrating the artist's thrilling and dynamic artistic language, Untitled exudes a visceral power with every brush mark. Of the painted area, the background bleeds an empowering, solid red wash of colour with a skeleton silhouette outlined with stark black oilstick. Trapped within this confined area with only a tiny chair, the holloweyed central figure is desperate to make his way out of it. A beacon of light radiates from the dome ceiling, suggesting a sense of hope and empowering the figure who is about to break free from this space with the hammer held in hand. The dome shape, coloured in yellow, also resembles gold royal crowns, rendering Untitled a portrait of a king and a self-referential painting representing Basquiat's personal journey, in the similar way as the rooted royal portraits in the history of art.
The working method as seen in Untitled also suggests his determination and urgency in changing the fate and perception of black artists. Well aware of his identity as a black artist in the whitedominated history of art during the 20th century, Basquiat's legacy changed the culture in terms of how black artists are perceived in the art world. Seen from in the delineation of the skeleton figure, the artist creates a primitive artistic language that shares both the impulsive quality of New York City graffiti art and the childlike aesthetic characteristic of Jean Dubuffet's Art Brut, resulting in his unique, buoyant style. Among all the works in his brief yet accomplished career, more than half of the top 10 auction record of Basquiat are creations from 1982. Liberated from the confines of traditional artistic production, Basquiat rebelled against the mainstreams within the established art world. In doing so, he himself became epitome and paragon for an entire era of artists who positioned themselves against the institutions.