Christie's Evening Auction of Post-War & Contemporary
Art will present on May 13, 2014 a major painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat from
the Reiner property collection, created in the seminal year of 1981 and
carefully preserved in the same private collection since it was acquired from
Annina Nosei in 1982. Untitled is estimated to
realize in the region of 20-30 million USD.
The year 1981 marked Jean-Michel Basquiat's
transcendence from the leading figure on the underground art scene, SAMO, to
the established world of international art stardom. Untitled, 1981 is an emblem to this success, created at this
precise moment in Basquiat's career when he was channeling the raw energy of
his street art into the medium of fine art.
Executed on canvas and on a scale akin to the wall
expanses he had previously utilized on the street of downtown New York City,
Basquiat's menacing warrior basks in a vibrant orange and crimson backdrop
built up from broad swathes of acrylic paint.
Laid down on peach ground, the anatomical makeup of
Basquiat's warrior emerges from scrawls of black, white and brown oilstick.
Illuminating the figure from within, this haloed aura along with punctuations
of yellow and black paint as well as metallic spray-paint come together to form
a mandorla of sorts, a typical motif found in the rendering of Christ in
Majesty.
Fierce and intimidating, Basquiat's regal warrior with
glowing red eyes and bared teeth embodies the artist's own feelings of triumph
after his sudden rise to international art world fame. Just as Basquiat, the “king of the streets” had conquered the
art world, his warrior too has been crowned king victorious. Replete with the
graffiti-inspired text and imagery that first garnered Basquiat attention
during his SAMO days, Untitled reinforces
Basquiat's street heritage and revels in it with the framing of this work with
crowns, a motif that, along with the copyright sign and comic book seal,
signifies Basquiat's own personal emblem and seal of approval. Untitled has been held in
the same collection since it was first seen in the artist's studio in the
basement of Annina Nosei's gallery in 1982.
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