Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) - Untitled (Skull) - Giclée - 50x44 - Artestar licensed print *COA*

Giclée print by Jean-Michel Basquiat (*)
Reproduction of the work “Untitled (Skull)” (**) a piece created by Basquiat in 1981.
Luxury edition on Monte Carlo high‐gram watercolor paper (300 g/m2)
Print authorized by Artestar New York.
Copyright of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Includes Certificate of Authenticity (COA).

Specifications:

- Support dimensions: 50 x 44 cm
- Stain dimensions: 40 x 34 cm
- Condition: Excellent (this work has never been framed or exhibited, and has always been kept in a professional art folder, so it is offered in perfect condition).

The work will be carefully handled and packaged in a reinforced cardboard package. Shipping will be traceable and certified, operated by top transport companies (UPS DPD DHL FedEx).

Shipping will also include full insurance for the final value of the work with full reimbursement in case of loss or damage, at no cost to the buyer.

(*) Jean-Michel Basquiat was the first of the three children of Matilde Andrades and Gerard Basquiat. His father was a financially stable Haitian accountant and his mother a Puerto Rican graphic designer of great prestige in her profession. Jean-Michel grew up in a troubled family environment; his parents divorced and, because of this, he had to change schools many times. He studied at a private Catholic school, later at a public school, and finally, at 16, enrolled in City-As-School, a school for gifted teenagers, from which he was expelled, for rebellion, a year before graduating.
Already in his youth he came into contact with the subculture of the big city, related to drug use and street gangs. In 1977, together with Al Díaz, he entered the world of graffiti, painting on subway cars and in SoHo, the New York neighborhood where art galleries proliferate.
A year later he left school one year before graduating from high school and left home to live for two years on the streets, in abandoned buildings or with his friends in Lower Manhattan, surviving by selling postcards and T-shirts that he decorated himself. He continued to devote himself to graffiti; his murals and writings carried a lot of poetic and philosophical weight, but above all satirical. The pseudonym of his shared alter ego with Al Díaz was SAMO (short for “Same Old Shit,” i.e., “the same old crap,” with which they signed their tags and graffiti with cryptic messages. The use of this name was decisive in his life.
These murals bore inscriptions such as “SAMO saves fools” or “SAMO ends the religious brainwashing, the politics of nothingness, and the fake philosophy.” An article about SAMO’s street writing published in The Village Voice was the first hint that the art world was taking an interest in him.
The artist had several relationships that influenced his work, one of the most significant being with artist Andy Warhol.
Also, on a sentimental level, he was involved with several women; one of the best known today was Madonna. Lower Manhattan was the area where they lived at the time; in 1982 they began to spend more time together and go to parties in galleries. A theme that united them; she mentions in an interview, “I was a big fan of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.”
In 1988, exhibitions were installed in Paris and New York, and in April of the same year he tried to overcome his addictions and retired to his home in Hawaii. He returned to New York in June, announcing that he had freed himself from his addictions, but on August 12, 1988, at the age of 27, he died of a heroin overdose, becoming the most successful visual artist in the history of Afro-descendant art. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Throughout his short but intense artistic career he would hold more than 40 solo exhibitions and participate in around 100 group shows. Self-promotion and advertising appeal were priorities for Basquiat, as they had been for Andy Warhol or Julian Schnabel before him.
Neo-expressionism came to dominate over appropriation, in part thanks to the economic boom that pushed art prices, especially painting, to high levels, and in part thanks to the support of gallerists and collectors. However, critics were not unanimous in their assessment, and it was common to denounce the lack of theoretical grounding in neo-expressionist discourse. It was argued that the art practiced by neo-expressionists lacked any political or social meaning, it was merely merchandise and, therefore, subject to the whims and fluctuations of the market. Neo-expressionist painting was reduced to a consumer product and, as such, a creatively disqualified and vulgar act.

(**) Basquiat began working on “Untitled” at the beginning of 1979. Unlike most of his pieces, which were completed with great profusion in a few days, Untitled remained unfinished for several months, as Basquiat delayed its completion. The art historian Fred Hoffman’s description alludes to a vision Basquiat may have conceived in the studio: “One can only speculate about the reasons for this hesitation, but several people close to the artist suspect that this young and inexperienced artist hesitated to complete the work because it surprised him, possibly even scared him, by the power and energy emanating from this unexpected image.”
“Untitled” represents the inner and outer dimensions of a head, existing between life and death. The eyes are apathetic, as if the head had been lobotomized. The subdued facial expression contrasts with the vibrant colors that suggest abundant internal activity. Basquiat’s use of heads and skulls is deeply rooted in his identity as African American and evokes African masks. “He developed a unique style, combining expressive and sometimes violent brushstrokes with words, symbols, and diverse materials to address social issues.”
The painting was presented as “Untitled” in Basquiat’s first American solo exhibition, at Annina Nosei Gallery in 1982. When it was acquired a few months later, the word “Skull” was added to the title, which has accompanied it ever since through numerous exhibitions. Hoffman suggests that the title change was “the result of confusing the work with the more traditional iconography of memento mori, in which a skull symbolizes death.”