Together, the collection offers an exceptionally comprehensive overview of Basquiat's celebrated career. The group has been led by his Untitled (Pollo Frito) since the critical year of 1982, when he fully 'arrived' on the international art scene. Consisting of two panels that span a total of 12 feet (3,05 meters), Untitled (Pollo Frito) is estimated to sell for more than $25 million this November.
The collection also offers: Taxi, 45th/Broadway, a circa 1984-85 collaborative painting with Andy Warhol that was formerly in the collection of Gianni Versace (pictured right, estimate $6-8 million); 1982 Untitled, a vibrant, densely layered work on paper (estimate $1,5/2 million); and 1988's Untitled, a poignant monochrome painting completed in the last year of Basquiat's short life (estimate $2-4 million).
Untitled (Pollo Frito) and Taxi, 45th / Broadway can now be seen at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center. Selected works from this group will also travel to London, Los Angeles and Paris this fall, ahead of full viewing at our Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art marquee auctions opening in New York City on November 2nd.
Paralleling the artist's spectacular rise to international acclaim, the explosive signs and scribbles that cover (Untitled) Pollo Frito are fueled by the furious artistic drive that drove Basquiat as he began his ascent. The work dates Basquiat's year of 1982, during which he received his first solo exhibition with Annina Nosei in New York, followed quickly by Larry Gagosian in Los Angeles, Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, and an invitation to participate in the exhibition International Documenta 7 in Kassel as the youngest artist in
attendance.
Revealing virtuosic painterly skills, Basquiat builds intricate layers of oil, acrylic and enamel on the surface of (Untitled) Pollo Frito, and then slices them through searing incisions, working positively and negatively to create an incredibly densely textured surface. The painting is filled with key Basquiat iconography, including the powerful skull heads, three-pointed crown, and a dense web of repeated textual references that recur in Basquiat's most significant works. His skill as a colourist is also on display, with the canvas almost completely covered in incendiary shades of orange, red and yellow.
Taxi, 45th / Broadway was formerly in the collection of Gianni Versace, and auctioned at Sotheby's in London in 2005. The work has remained in the same collection ever since.
Untitled (1982) is a masterful example of the artist's instinctive and lauded skills as a draftsman. Typical of his works on paper, the marking is urgent, the color varies and the main head motif central to the composition, an enduring icon that recurs throughout his body of work.
Basquiat's unique idiom, the warrior figure depicted here references the young artist's ambition as he begins his rise to critical and commercial success in 1982.
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION CALENDAR
Hong Kong
28 September – 2 October
Including Untitled (Pollo Frito) and Taxi, 45th/Broadway
London
6 – 9 October
Including Untitled (1982) and Untitled (1988)
Los Angeles
16 – 17 October
Including Untitled (1982) and Untitled (1988)
Paris
18 – 21 October Including Untitled (Pollo Frito)
