1982
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Painting USA USA II Later Warhols Celebrities by Warhol Basquiat Zhang Daqian The Man
See also : Painting USA USA II Later Warhols Celebrities by Warhol Basquiat Zhang Daqian The Man
1982 Peach Blossom Spring by Zhang Daqian
2016 SOLD for HK$ 270M by Sotheby's
Zhang Daqian was a highly skilled artist, able to imitate and copy up to perfection the great Chinese masters of all dynasties and to develop new techniques of his own. Splashing his paper with layers of transparent paint, he renews the expression of landscapes without reaching abstraction, with hues in perfectly controlled gradients.
Zhang returned to Asia in 1976. He however sees that urbanization is threatening the tranquility of his residence in Taiwan. He reacts as a poet. Made in 1982, Peach blossom spring exposes his grandiose dream of a paradise that can no longer exist. According to the Chinese artistic tradition, he inserts a poem explaining his quest for bliss.
This artwork combining drawing and splash is somehow his artistic legacy in the form of a hanging scroll of very large size 209 x 92 cm. The dream realized with a malachite green pigment is a column of progressive splashes reaching a sumptuous intensity in the top of the image.
This magnificent burst of color removes up to the edges of the picture a landscape in sharp lines but without details excepted the little boat of a fisherman. At the bottom of the blue green column, the border with the real world is provided by a row of peach trees undertaking to grow their flowering branches upward into the dreamlike sky.
His use of increasingly expressive colors explains the considerable interest of the old master in the art of Zao Wou-ki. Their meeting, highly significant for appreciating the evolution of modern Chinese painting, took place in the following year a few weeks before the death of Zhang.
Peach blossom spring was sold for HK $ 270M from a lower esrimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2016, lot 1273.
Zhang returned to Asia in 1976. He however sees that urbanization is threatening the tranquility of his residence in Taiwan. He reacts as a poet. Made in 1982, Peach blossom spring exposes his grandiose dream of a paradise that can no longer exist. According to the Chinese artistic tradition, he inserts a poem explaining his quest for bliss.
This artwork combining drawing and splash is somehow his artistic legacy in the form of a hanging scroll of very large size 209 x 92 cm. The dream realized with a malachite green pigment is a column of progressive splashes reaching a sumptuous intensity in the top of the image.
This magnificent burst of color removes up to the edges of the picture a landscape in sharp lines but without details excepted the little boat of a fisherman. At the bottom of the blue green column, the border with the real world is provided by a row of peach trees undertaking to grow their flowering branches upward into the dreamlike sky.
His use of increasingly expressive colors explains the considerable interest of the old master in the art of Zao Wou-ki. Their meeting, highly significant for appreciating the evolution of modern Chinese painting, took place in the following year a few weeks before the death of Zhang.
Peach blossom spring was sold for HK $ 270M from a lower esrimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2016, lot 1273.
BASQUIAT
1
January 1982 for Annina Nosei
2017 SOLD for $ 110M by Sotheby's
The participation of Jean-Michel Basquiat in a collective exhibition in February 1981 attracted the attention of three merchants who will separately have a leading role in the start of his career : Emilio Mazzoli, Annina Nosei and Bruno Bischofberger.
It is to the honor of Annina Nosei to have convinced Jean-Michel that her basement was more appropriate than the streets of New York to let his skills explode. This close collaboration during which the artist can finally work regularly on very large canvases lasted from September 1981 to November 1982.
During that first year Jean-Michel mostly displays characters in full length, apostles of negritude whose transparency of the flesh reveals the skeleton. His perfectly mastered technique with acrylic, spray and oilstick and his fast and accurate stroke bring the expression of an activism unprecedented in art.
The monumental heads painted in 1982 are the culmination of the art of Jean-Michel. On May 18, 2017, Sotheby's sold for $ 110M from an estimate in excess of $ 60M a painting 183 x 173 cm executed in January 1982 for the Nosei Gallery, lot 24.
Like many opus by Jean-Michel, it is untitled. The theme is limited to a huge head to which bright colors and aggressive teeth provide an angry expression. By its transparency, it is a skull or perhaps a mask. Without neck or body, it floats before a blue sky that is perhaps only a gap in a tagged wall.
It is to the honor of Annina Nosei to have convinced Jean-Michel that her basement was more appropriate than the streets of New York to let his skills explode. This close collaboration during which the artist can finally work regularly on very large canvases lasted from September 1981 to November 1982.
During that first year Jean-Michel mostly displays characters in full length, apostles of negritude whose transparency of the flesh reveals the skeleton. His perfectly mastered technique with acrylic, spray and oilstick and his fast and accurate stroke bring the expression of an activism unprecedented in art.
The monumental heads painted in 1982 are the culmination of the art of Jean-Michel. On May 18, 2017, Sotheby's sold for $ 110M from an estimate in excess of $ 60M a painting 183 x 173 cm executed in January 1982 for the Nosei Gallery, lot 24.
Like many opus by Jean-Michel, it is untitled. The theme is limited to a huge head to which bright colors and aggressive teeth provide an angry expression. By its transparency, it is a skull or perhaps a mask. Without neck or body, it floats before a blue sky that is perhaps only a gap in a tagged wall.
2
March 1982, in Modena
2022 SOLD for $ 85M by Phillips
Jean-Michel Basquiat made two trips to Italy early in his career. The first visit in the spring of 1981 was caused by the exhibition dedicated to him in Modena by Emilio Mazzoli.
Jean-Michel returns to Modena in March 1982. Through the example of the Field next to the other road painted there in 1981 on a 221 x 401 cm canvas, he appreciated that the basement of Annina Nosei was already not sufficient to match his grand vision. This painting was sold for $ 37M by Christie's in 2015. He will part from the Nosei gallery in favor of Bischofberger in the summer of 1982
During his Spring 1982 stay in Modena, he executes a pair of paintings on the traditional Italian theme of paradise and hell but as usual he blurs the message to exacerbate his vision of the power to the blacks. An advised art critic would later comment that Jean-Michel Basquiat had been the Jimi Hendrix of painting.
Jean-Michel understood the visual advantage of gigantism which will be one of the essential characteristics of the art of our time : the size of the canvas is 239 x 500 cm. It is painted in acrylic without oil stick, enabling to introduce some drippings below the puddles of bright colors surrounding the horned head.
Some observers see a self-portrait in this devil. This is an excessive opinion because the lines are stylized, but indeed this threatening tribal face reflects the ambition of the young artist to become a redeemer of the world.
That vision of hell was sold for $ 57M by Christie's on May 10, 2016, lot 36 B. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. It was sold for $ 85M by Phillips on May 18, 2022, lot 12.
Jean-Michel had not needed to give a title to his Demon, unlike the divine figure which he called Profit I by one of his usual claw blows against capitalism. The contrast is striking : here the background is dark and tagged, the round mouth is shouting a sermon that nobody will listen.
Profit I, 220 x 400 cm, had established a temporary world record at auction for the artist on May 14, 2002 when it was sold by Christie's for $ 5.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 34.
Jean-Michel returns to Modena in March 1982. Through the example of the Field next to the other road painted there in 1981 on a 221 x 401 cm canvas, he appreciated that the basement of Annina Nosei was already not sufficient to match his grand vision. This painting was sold for $ 37M by Christie's in 2015. He will part from the Nosei gallery in favor of Bischofberger in the summer of 1982
During his Spring 1982 stay in Modena, he executes a pair of paintings on the traditional Italian theme of paradise and hell but as usual he blurs the message to exacerbate his vision of the power to the blacks. An advised art critic would later comment that Jean-Michel Basquiat had been the Jimi Hendrix of painting.
Jean-Michel understood the visual advantage of gigantism which will be one of the essential characteristics of the art of our time : the size of the canvas is 239 x 500 cm. It is painted in acrylic without oil stick, enabling to introduce some drippings below the puddles of bright colors surrounding the horned head.
Some observers see a self-portrait in this devil. This is an excessive opinion because the lines are stylized, but indeed this threatening tribal face reflects the ambition of the young artist to become a redeemer of the world.
That vision of hell was sold for $ 57M by Christie's on May 10, 2016, lot 36 B. Please watch the video shared by Christie's. It was sold for $ 85M by Phillips on May 18, 2022, lot 12.
Jean-Michel had not needed to give a title to his Demon, unlike the divine figure which he called Profit I by one of his usual claw blows against capitalism. The contrast is striking : here the background is dark and tagged, the round mouth is shouting a sermon that nobody will listen.
Profit I, 220 x 400 cm, had established a temporary world record at auction for the artist on May 14, 2002 when it was sold by Christie's for $ 5.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M, lot 34.
3
March 1982, in Modena The Guilt of Gold Teeth
2021 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
The Guilt of Gold Teeth, so titled by the artist in the lower left of the canvas, is a dramatic political staging by Jean-Michel Basquiat on a flamboyant orange and blue background.
This acrylic, spray and oilstick 240 x 420 cm was painted during his second stay in Modena, in March 1982, during which he could create new compositions in monumental sizes in a working space prepared for him by Mazzoli.
The funerary character with wire limbs is Baron Samedi. For the ancestors of the artist in Haiti, the "Baron" is the voodoo figure who transfers the people from life to the beyond in a sardonic lecherous laughter. Far away from the New York streets, Jean-Michel displays to his Italian audience this white faced terrifying figure in a capitalist attire with a top hat and frock coat.
The arch-enemy is indeed the global capitalism, as evidenced by several dollar signs and by the title Profit attributed to a screaming figure from the Modena series. Other inscriptions include in repetition a few words in block letters plus hobo marks whose meaning will escape a w.a.s.p. reader. PESO NETO possibly refers to the weighing of the souls by the Baron.
The title is complex, as often with Jean-Michel. The pun between Gilt and Guilt is obvious. The golden teeth may refer to the earliest African American boxing champion, Jack Johnson, who was naturally one of the black idols of the artist.
The Guilt of Gold Teeth was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 19A.
This acrylic, spray and oilstick 240 x 420 cm was painted during his second stay in Modena, in March 1982, during which he could create new compositions in monumental sizes in a working space prepared for him by Mazzoli.
The funerary character with wire limbs is Baron Samedi. For the ancestors of the artist in Haiti, the "Baron" is the voodoo figure who transfers the people from life to the beyond in a sardonic lecherous laughter. Far away from the New York streets, Jean-Michel displays to his Italian audience this white faced terrifying figure in a capitalist attire with a top hat and frock coat.
The arch-enemy is indeed the global capitalism, as evidenced by several dollar signs and by the title Profit attributed to a screaming figure from the Modena series. Other inscriptions include in repetition a few words in block letters plus hobo marks whose meaning will escape a w.a.s.p. reader. PESO NETO possibly refers to the weighing of the souls by the Baron.
The title is complex, as often with Jean-Michel. The pun between Gilt and Guilt is obvious. The golden teeth may refer to the earliest African American boxing champion, Jack Johnson, who was naturally one of the black idols of the artist.
The Guilt of Gold Teeth was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 19A.
4
1982 Dustheads, for Annina Nosei
2013 SOLD for $ 49M by Christie's
In 1981, Basquiat was spreading a mystical message with heavy criticisms against mankind and society. In addition to the revolutionary language of the former street child, his artistic success is due to the exceptional quality of his technique and to the originality of his figuration.
1982 is another great year. Dustheads, 183 x 213 cm, is a fascinating work. Two characters side by side look at the viewer with stupidity and wickedness. The figure on the right dominates with his hilarious face and strident colors. Are they aliens or voodoo masks?
They may only be hallucinations. The title Dustheads comes directly from the slang of the drug. 1982 was a transition year for Basquiat, and this work is curiously close to the most disturbing figures of his former street art.
Despite its aggressiveness, Dustheads is an engaging work that has not yet been reached by the obscurity of his future political message. It was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 10.
1982 is another great year. Dustheads, 183 x 213 cm, is a fascinating work. Two characters side by side look at the viewer with stupidity and wickedness. The figure on the right dominates with his hilarious face and strident colors. Are they aliens or voodoo masks?
They may only be hallucinations. The title Dustheads comes directly from the slang of the drug. 1982 was a transition year for Basquiat, and this work is curiously close to the most disturbing figures of his former street art.
Despite its aggressiveness, Dustheads is an engaging work that has not yet been reached by the obscurity of his future political message. It was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 25M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 10.
5
Warrior
2021 SOLD for HK$ 324M by Christie's
A very good connoisseur of art history, Jean-Michel Basquiat tries out a wide variety of themes in Annina Nosei's basement in 1981. His father is of Haitian origin and his mother is of Puerto- Rican origin. His vision of the world is total, from tribal Africa to the streets of New York.
The Fisherman is one of the very first paintings of the Nosei phase. Basquiat replaced the nudity of the primitive man with a transparency displaying the skeleton through the black skin. The inspiration of the nail fetishes of Congo brings an additional aggressiveness which does not spare the terrible fish. The Grebo masks from Ivory Coast provides the hallucinatory gaze and the relentless mouth. This 198 x 173 cm canvas painting was sold for $ 26.4M by Christie's on November 14, 2012.
It is better to be the first in your village than the second in Rome or New York. The fisherman is already a paltry king, with a crown of thorns. The artist reuses the character as a warrior, with a deadly sword.
Basquiat seeks the best effects to support his social message. The canvas does not replace the graffiti wall and is too far from tribal art. He tries wood.
A Warrior painted in 1982 is a good demonstrator of this perfectionism applied to a theme which is already a series. Through its auction history, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic, oilstick and spray on wood panel is also a pioneer in the global export of the Basquiat market. It was sold three times by Sotheby's : in New York for $ 1.8M on November 9, 2005, in London for £ 2.8M on June 21, 2007 and for £ 5.6M on June 26, 2012. It was sold for HK $ 324M from a lower estimate of HK $ 240M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 1.
The Fisherman is one of the very first paintings of the Nosei phase. Basquiat replaced the nudity of the primitive man with a transparency displaying the skeleton through the black skin. The inspiration of the nail fetishes of Congo brings an additional aggressiveness which does not spare the terrible fish. The Grebo masks from Ivory Coast provides the hallucinatory gaze and the relentless mouth. This 198 x 173 cm canvas painting was sold for $ 26.4M by Christie's on November 14, 2012.
It is better to be the first in your village than the second in Rome or New York. The fisherman is already a paltry king, with a crown of thorns. The artist reuses the character as a warrior, with a deadly sword.
Basquiat seeks the best effects to support his social message. The canvas does not replace the graffiti wall and is too far from tribal art. He tries wood.
A Warrior painted in 1982 is a good demonstrator of this perfectionism applied to a theme which is already a series. Through its auction history, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic, oilstick and spray on wood panel is also a pioneer in the global export of the Basquiat market. It was sold three times by Sotheby's : in New York for $ 1.8M on November 9, 2005, in London for £ 2.8M on June 21, 2007 and for £ 5.6M on June 26, 2012. It was sold for HK $ 324M from a lower estimate of HK $ 240M by Christie's on March 23, 2021, lot 1.
6
Warrior for Annina Nosei
2013 SOLD for $ 29M by Christie's
As soon as he was invited to work in Annina Nosei's basement in 1981, Jean-Michel Basquiat gathered the elements of his personal mythology. An acrylic, oilstick and spray enamel on canvas 173 x 262 cm is typical. The character is an African warrior in the rough who wields a huge sword and a handful of radiant arrows or lightnings. This artwork was sold for $ 35M by Christie's in 2014.
On November 12, 2013, Christie's sold as lot 15 a simplified version of this image for $ 29M. Just as deliciously terrifying, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic and oilstick on wood painted in 1982 for Annina Nosei brings a better readability of the character, almost life-size in a surrounding of more vivid colors.
The main biomorphic features are retained, such as the skull-shaped head and the opening of the torso to internal organs. He is a tribal leader or an African American champion, with boxer shorts and gigantic feet that provide stability and triumph. The three-pointed crown is larger and in a shining golden yellow. The blood-red eyes are replaced with a gold plating.
Unlike the example of the previous year, the character no longer needs tags to convey his message. The weapons are replaced by a gigantic golden femur brandished like a scepter by this king of high fantasy. He is both winner and victim, ridiculous and autobiographical, in line with Basquiat's scathing humor of the time.
On November 12, 2013, Christie's sold as lot 15 a simplified version of this image for $ 29M. Just as deliciously terrifying, this 183 x 122 cm acrylic and oilstick on wood painted in 1982 for Annina Nosei brings a better readability of the character, almost life-size in a surrounding of more vivid colors.
The main biomorphic features are retained, such as the skull-shaped head and the opening of the torso to internal organs. He is a tribal leader or an African American champion, with boxer shorts and gigantic feet that provide stability and triumph. The three-pointed crown is larger and in a shining golden yellow. The blood-red eyes are replaced with a gold plating.
Unlike the example of the previous year, the character no longer needs tags to convey his message. The weapons are replaced by a gigantic golden femur brandished like a scepter by this king of high fantasy. He is both winner and victim, ridiculous and autobiographical, in line with Basquiat's scathing humor of the time.
7
One Eyed Man, for Annina Nosei
2021 SOLD for HK$ 234M by Christie's
Painted for Annina Nosei Gallery, an Untitled known as One Eyed Man or Xerox Face is one of several 1982 re-interpretations by Basquiat on the theme of the triumphing warrior with raised arms as conceived in 1981. Here the character is bright red, excepted the pale face photocopied from an autograph drawing.
This near life size acrylic, spray, oilstick and collage on panel 183 x 122 cm is indeed a demonstrator on wood of the variety of techniques used by Basquiat. It includes cutter incisions in the thick pigment to reveal a dark background. The xerox is then a novelty in his artistic process. It will nevertheless not be reused at such a prominent place.
It was sold for HK $ 234M from a lower estimate of HK $ 140M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 67.
This near life size acrylic, spray, oilstick and collage on panel 183 x 122 cm is indeed a demonstrator on wood of the variety of techniques used by Basquiat. It includes cutter incisions in the thick pigment to reveal a dark background. The xerox is then a novelty in his artistic process. It will nevertheless not be reused at such a prominent place.
It was sold for HK $ 234M from a lower estimate of HK $ 140M by Christie's on May 24, 2021, lot 67.
8
October 1982 Versus Medici
2021 SOLD for $ 51M by Sotheby's
Jean-Michel Basquiat was deeply immersed in art history, through his education and through his stays in Italy. He appreciated very early that he had changed street painting into a major new form of art, raising to unprecedented heights the African-American pictorial expression.
A triptych in acrylic, oilstick and collage on three joined canvases 214 x 138 cm overall, dated October 1982, reveals how Jean-Michel viewed at the young age of 22 his own place in art history.
The title, Versus Medici, is clear. Jean-Michel is a follower of the greatest family of art patrons of the Italian Renaissance, but he is also their antagonist because they symbolise the white wealth and power. It is also a pun against the famous Venus de Medici.
The standing character is towering. He is not a male or a female, and his face is neither white or black, so this one cannot be a disguised self portrait. With the bowl cut hair and the triangular pair of legs, he looks like an Egyptian sarcophagus. In an astonishing reference to the past, the background surface of the lower part is in the Medici red and gold.
Jean-Michel adds his signature style, including the detailed view of stomach and intestinal system beyond the skin. The three-pointed crown behind the character expresses the access of Basquiat to his desired art royalty. A three-time graffiti is written in pseudo Greek letters, and probably means his personal Apotheosis. The word ELBOW neatly scraped below the arm reminds that an artwork always had a preparation phase.
Versus Medici was sold by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 105, for $ 51M from a lower estimate of $ 35M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A triptych in acrylic, oilstick and collage on three joined canvases 214 x 138 cm overall, dated October 1982, reveals how Jean-Michel viewed at the young age of 22 his own place in art history.
The title, Versus Medici, is clear. Jean-Michel is a follower of the greatest family of art patrons of the Italian Renaissance, but he is also their antagonist because they symbolise the white wealth and power. It is also a pun against the famous Venus de Medici.
The standing character is towering. He is not a male or a female, and his face is neither white or black, so this one cannot be a disguised self portrait. With the bowl cut hair and the triangular pair of legs, he looks like an Egyptian sarcophagus. In an astonishing reference to the past, the background surface of the lower part is in the Medici red and gold.
Jean-Michel adds his signature style, including the detailed view of stomach and intestinal system beyond the skin. The three-pointed crown behind the character expresses the access of Basquiat to his desired art royalty. A three-time graffiti is written in pseudo Greek letters, and probably means his personal Apotheosis. The word ELBOW neatly scraped below the arm reminds that an artwork always had a preparation phase.
Versus Medici was sold by Sotheby's on May 12, 2021, lot 105, for $ 51M from a lower estimate of $ 35M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1982 Basquiat by Warhol
2021 SOLD for $ 40M by Christie's
Bruno Bischofberger was from 1968 the main dealer of the art of Andy Warhol whom he influenced in developing new themes. He knew also to capture the confidence of Jean-Michel Basquiat who left for him the gallery of Annina Nosei in the summer of 1982.
In order to keep in touch with the new trends including the street culture, Warhol was inviting Bischofberger to bring young artists to meet him at The Factory. Andy was not so sure of the artistic skills of Jean-Michel who was a newcomer at that time. They met on October 4, 1982. The encounter was told by Bischofberger and by Warhol.
The older artist took his Polaroid and a few photos were shot. Jean-Michel left at lunch time. One hour and a half later, an assistant came back with their double portrait 150 x 150 cm. Andy said : "He is faster than me". A new friendship was born. Their collaboration in four hand paintings will begin one year later, also through Bischofberger's influence.
Andy managed to paint three portraits of his new friend from one of the photos. He knew that Jean-Michel admired the metallized effect used by Andy two decades earlier in his Gold Marilyn, in the Ferus series of Elvis, in the Silver Liz and in a portrait of Jackie Kennedy.
Basquiat by Warhol, metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink and piss on canvas 102 x 102 cm painted in 1982, was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 32C.
The special oxidation technique used by Warhol created a pattern of big stains on the larger than life face of Basquiat, providing a surreal effect that highlighted the wild crown-shaped hair and the slightly strabismic gaze of the unconventional and uncompromising young rebel.
The other two examples respectively remain in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and in the Basquiat estate.
In order to keep in touch with the new trends including the street culture, Warhol was inviting Bischofberger to bring young artists to meet him at The Factory. Andy was not so sure of the artistic skills of Jean-Michel who was a newcomer at that time. They met on October 4, 1982. The encounter was told by Bischofberger and by Warhol.
The older artist took his Polaroid and a few photos were shot. Jean-Michel left at lunch time. One hour and a half later, an assistant came back with their double portrait 150 x 150 cm. Andy said : "He is faster than me". A new friendship was born. Their collaboration in four hand paintings will begin one year later, also through Bischofberger's influence.
Andy managed to paint three portraits of his new friend from one of the photos. He knew that Jean-Michel admired the metallized effect used by Andy two decades earlier in his Gold Marilyn, in the Ferus series of Elvis, in the Silver Liz and in a portrait of Jackie Kennedy.
Basquiat by Warhol, metallic pigment, acrylic, silkscreen ink and piss on canvas 102 x 102 cm painted in 1982, was sold for $ 40M by Christie's on November 11, 2021, lot 32C.
The special oxidation technique used by Warhol created a pattern of big stains on the larger than life face of Basquiat, providing a surreal effect that highlighted the wild crown-shaped hair and the slightly strabismic gaze of the unconventional and uncompromising young rebel.
The other two examples respectively remain in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and in the Basquiat estate.
