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Basquiat's masterpiece up for auction in New York for over 10 million dollars

Basquiat's masterpiece up for auction in New York for over 10 million dollars

Sotheby's will offer Jean-Michel Basquiat's masterpiece on Untitled (Head) paper from 1982 as the highlight of the Evening Contemporary Art auction in New York on June 29, 2020. The superlative work will be auctioned off this month with an estimate of $9/12 million.

A burst of vivid color and frenetic trademark creation, Untitled (Head) is a tour de force that stands as one of Basquiat's most famous "Heads." The urgency and force of the composition reflect the frenetic energy and creativity that characterized New York City in the 80s, and the balance and fullness of the work are testament to the artist's genius.

Untitled (Head) bears a close resemblance to the seminal 1981 painting Untitled in the collection of The Broad in Los Angeles and, like that work, ranks at the pinnacle of the artist's practice. Held in the artist's collection along with many of his greatest pieces until his untimely death in 1988, the present work replaces the Robert Miller Gallery's famed exhibition of Basquiat drawings in 1990 – the exhibition which cemented the works on paper as the cornerstone of his oeuvre.

Grégoire Billault, head of the contemporary art department at Sotheby's in New York, commented: “Untitled (Head) embodies the best of Basquiat's brilliant career. There is a sense of urgency and immediacy to this work that is truly exceptional – a prescientific piece that captures and defines 80s New York and demonstrates the young artist's profound psychological awareness. This is one of Basquiat's greatest iconic masterpieces, and it was Robert Miller's remarkable show work that helped illuminate the genius of his work on paper. With a key work like this, Basquiat places himself in the lineage of great American painters. “

Enduring as both idiosyncratic self-portraits and skull-like talismanic icons, the individual ferocious figures of Basquiat's "heads" have prevailed as a key conceptual anchor for Basquiat throughout his career, appearing in and dominating most of his best-known works. Notable for its striking intensity, captivating coloring and visceral aesthetic impact, Untitled (Head) embodies the overwhelming power of Basquiat's creative insurrection and embodies the best of the artist's practice.

Reaching its zenith in 1982, Basquiat's exploration of the human head is its crowning achievement. He realized the universal relativity of this subject, recognizing that his viewers would see themselves in these works, using the intensity of his line, suppressing the energy of his composition and the exuberance of his coloring to experience a degree of catharsis. In the case of the present work, his burning gaze, bared teeth and fiercely outlined physiognomy express a degree of emotional intensity.

Basquiat was always drawing, whether working on paper or canvas, and it is in this function that his works on paper became a cornerstone of his practice. By 1983, when collage became one of his primary media, Xerox drawings from his studio would become the substrate for his paintings. Rather than studying for his paintings, Basquiat's drawings were literally the basis of his practice and would provide the stimulus needed to work on a larger scale.

This reliance on drawings for inspiration is further evidenced by his retention of several pivotal works on paper in his collection until his untimely death in 1988. This group, which included the present work, was exhibited together in his celebrated posthumous exhibition at Robert Miller Gallery in 1990, the exhibition that cemented the reputation of Basquiat's works on paper as an integral part of his career.

Vibrating with immediacy, impromptu skill, and undeniable self-reflection, Untitled (Head) is a masterful example of Jean-Michel Basquiat's revered body of work on paper. His creation was a moment of enlightenment and remained an enduring inspiration to the artist throughout his life, a perfect combination of fury and poise.

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