1984
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Bacon Later Bacons Basquiat Diebenkorn
See also : Bacon Later Bacons Basquiat Diebenkorn
1984 Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards by Bacon
2014 SOLD for $ 81M by Christie's
Francis Bacon enjoyed confrontations. Having become famous, he despised the deference of his interlocutors. In 1974 in Soho, he was aggressed by the bartender John Edwards who criticized his selfishness after a missed visit to his London pub. John was right. Francis returns to his studio and begins to paint his first portrait of John Edwards.
John was handicapped by a severe dyslexia which had ruined his education. He could barely read and write but his behavior was direct and sociable. Francis will say of John that he was the only true friend he ever had. The age difference was 40 years. John will be the sole heir of Francis and keeper of his estate.
Such a trust was new to the old artist. John became his photographer. This strong boy could also be his bodyguard. On happy days, he had the privilege of entering the workshop while Francis was painting. He was the only witness to the lifelong drama of the artist who constantly seemed to be fighting with his canvas.
Francis painted more than twenty portraits of John. Their friendship changed his style. No more caricatured faces and deliquescent bodies.
A large size triptych portrait of John painted in 1984, 198 x 148 cm for each element, was sold for $ 81M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
John is gently seated on a stool and normally dressed. He is recognizable by his prominent jaw which the artist reinforced with a white line in the two side views. The face is made expressive by his usual range of colors, from flesh to crimson. The sitter is enclosed in Bacon's signature threadlike cage which was a tribute to Giacometti. The large empty room with the concave wall is the arena in which the artist exhibits his model.
The originality of this artwork in Bacon's corpus is that the face is realistic, peaceful and confident. Francis stated that John's triptych is one of his most successful works. It certainly means that his empathy with the disabled model was complete.
John was handicapped by a severe dyslexia which had ruined his education. He could barely read and write but his behavior was direct and sociable. Francis will say of John that he was the only true friend he ever had. The age difference was 40 years. John will be the sole heir of Francis and keeper of his estate.
Such a trust was new to the old artist. John became his photographer. This strong boy could also be his bodyguard. On happy days, he had the privilege of entering the workshop while Francis was painting. He was the only witness to the lifelong drama of the artist who constantly seemed to be fighting with his canvas.
Francis painted more than twenty portraits of John. Their friendship changed his style. No more caricatured faces and deliquescent bodies.
A large size triptych portrait of John painted in 1984, 198 x 148 cm for each element, was sold for $ 81M by Christie's on May 13, 2014. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
John is gently seated on a stool and normally dressed. He is recognizable by his prominent jaw which the artist reinforced with a white line in the two side views. The face is made expressive by his usual range of colors, from flesh to crimson. The sitter is enclosed in Bacon's signature threadlike cage which was a tribute to Giacometti. The large empty room with the concave wall is the arena in which the artist exhibits his model.
The originality of this artwork in Bacon's corpus is that the face is realistic, peaceful and confident. Francis stated that John's triptych is one of his most successful works. It certainly means that his empathy with the disabled model was complete.
BASQUIAT
1
1983-1984 Soap
2021 SOLD for $ 13.2M by Christie's
In 1983 Jean-Michel Basquiat looked for the symbols of slavery. The production of soap, associated with laundry, is one of them.
A mixed media artwork executed in 1983-1984 displayed a red head and a black head, both in the signature style of the artist with ghostly eyes and aggressive teeth. A bar of soap is positioned below them and marked SOAP. The background is made of more than two dozens of xeroxed expressive figures and scripts by the artist in a cacophony that somehow reminds the graffiti by Twombly.
This acrylic, oilstick, metallic paint and collages on canvas 166 x 152 cm was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 11, 2021, lot 14A.
A mixed media artwork executed in 1983-1984 displayed a red head and a black head, both in the signature style of the artist with ghostly eyes and aggressive teeth. A bar of soap is positioned below them and marked SOAP. The background is made of more than two dozens of xeroxed expressive figures and scripts by the artist in a cacophony that somehow reminds the graffiti by Twombly.
This acrylic, oilstick, metallic paint and collages on canvas 166 x 152 cm was sold for $ 13.2M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 11, 2021, lot 14A.
2
1984 Flexible
2018 SOLD for $ 45M by Phillips
In March 1983 Larry Gagosian exhibited artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat in his West Hollywood gallery. A few months later the artist tries the Californian adventure and installs his studio in Venice. He thus temporarily escapes New York where he felt the difficulty of transforming his skill into a lasting fame. Basquiat mingles little with the surrounding worldly life : he came to Los Angeles for working.
One night in the yard of his studio, Jean-Michel meets a tramp. The palisade was therefore useless. It would be more useful as a support for his paintings. He disassembles it and reuses the slats until that source is depleted. It is a simple and clever way to give his work an additional feature of street art. Later in New York he will purchase boards to continue this new practice while including tags therein.
On May 17, 2018, Phillips sold as lot 5 for $ 45M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Flexible, acrylic and oilstick 259 x 191 cm painted in Venice in 1984 on horizontally stacked wood.
The larger-than-life African-American character with transparent skin is an alter ego of Jean-Michel. The left forearm is disproportionately lengthened to reach the right hand, forming a flexible frame above the head. The very straight head is proud, expressing the desire for glory of the artist. Flexible means dominant and arrogant in slang.
Flexible is the masterpiece of this transition phase. A photograph of 1986 shows the artist sitting on a decorated cube with the towering Flexible on the back wall of the workshop. This painting had been preserved in his estate by his sisters.
One night in the yard of his studio, Jean-Michel meets a tramp. The palisade was therefore useless. It would be more useful as a support for his paintings. He disassembles it and reuses the slats until that source is depleted. It is a simple and clever way to give his work an additional feature of street art. Later in New York he will purchase boards to continue this new practice while including tags therein.
On May 17, 2018, Phillips sold as lot 5 for $ 45M from a lower estimate of $ 20M Flexible, acrylic and oilstick 259 x 191 cm painted in Venice in 1984 on horizontally stacked wood.
The larger-than-life African-American character with transparent skin is an alter ego of Jean-Michel. The left forearm is disproportionately lengthened to reach the right hand, forming a flexible frame above the head. The very straight head is proud, expressing the desire for glory of the artist. Flexible means dominant and arrogant in slang.
Flexible is the masterpiece of this transition phase. A photograph of 1986 shows the artist sitting on a decorated cube with the towering Flexible on the back wall of the workshop. This painting had been preserved in his estate by his sisters.
3
1984 Sabado por la Noche
2025 SOLD for HK$ 113M by Christie's
Executed in 1984, Sabado por la Noche mingles many elements of the hectic inspiration and multiple styles of Jean-Michel Basquiat. It specially highlights his appreciation of his ancestry and his love of jazz.
The title directly refers to the groundbreaking movie Saturday Night Fever, released in 1977 when Jean-Michel was 17 years old, about the feverish week-end passion of young middle class Americans for the disco where they forgot their dull week time at work.
Amid a brilliant color-field of magenta, yellow and emerald green, the picture embeds Basquiat's signature symbols dominated at three corners by mask heads, with the upper right example prolongated as an anatomical figure brandishing the head of a big bad wolf. Unusually a row of three nude women attends the action of the dance floor and a ghost is referred as IDLE.
This acrylic, silkscreen, oil stick, and paper collage on canvas 196 x 224 cm was sold by Christie's for £ 8.4M on June 25, 2019, lot 6 and for HK $ 113M on March 28, 2025, lot 8.
The title directly refers to the groundbreaking movie Saturday Night Fever, released in 1977 when Jean-Michel was 17 years old, about the feverish week-end passion of young middle class Americans for the disco where they forgot their dull week time at work.
Amid a brilliant color-field of magenta, yellow and emerald green, the picture embeds Basquiat's signature symbols dominated at three corners by mask heads, with the upper right example prolongated as an anatomical figure brandishing the head of a big bad wolf. Unusually a row of three nude women attends the action of the dance floor and a ghost is referred as IDLE.
This acrylic, silkscreen, oil stick, and paper collage on canvas 196 x 224 cm was sold by Christie's for £ 8.4M on June 25, 2019, lot 6 and for HK $ 113M on March 28, 2025, lot 8.
4
1984 Pyro
2019 SOLD for £ 9.9M by Sotheby's
On October 3, 2019, Sotheby's sold as lot 10 for £ 9.9M Pyro, a 219 x 173 cm painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This work has all the qualities of execution of the masterpieces of 1981 and 1982. Made in acrylic, silkscreen ink and oil stick on canvas, it is a blazing mingling of red, yellow, purple and green all around and inside the central character. Yet Pyro is dated 1984.
1984 is the first difficult year for Basquiat. At the beginning of the year, he is in Los Angeles for his brief second stay under the patronage of Gagosian. He escapes for trying to set up his studio in an isolated ranch in Hawaii and returns to New York City in March. At the end of the year his friends are worried about his growing dependence on drugs.
Basquiat always seeks to understand and express his exacerbated relationship to the world. The title Pyro must be correlated with the fury of the central character who does not control his own explosion.
Pyro includes symbols of New York City like the Empire State Building in a choice position at the top right of the image. The pagoda tower is a symbol of the cosmopolitan diversity of the big city. The hopes and threats of technology include the space shuttle and graffiti evoking the polonium industry.
The work is dated but not located. Considering its exhibition history which begins in the following year, it was probably not made before Jean-Michel came back to New York.
This work has all the qualities of execution of the masterpieces of 1981 and 1982. Made in acrylic, silkscreen ink and oil stick on canvas, it is a blazing mingling of red, yellow, purple and green all around and inside the central character. Yet Pyro is dated 1984.
1984 is the first difficult year for Basquiat. At the beginning of the year, he is in Los Angeles for his brief second stay under the patronage of Gagosian. He escapes for trying to set up his studio in an isolated ranch in Hawaii and returns to New York City in March. At the end of the year his friends are worried about his growing dependence on drugs.
Basquiat always seeks to understand and express his exacerbated relationship to the world. The title Pyro must be correlated with the fury of the central character who does not control his own explosion.
Pyro includes symbols of New York City like the Empire State Building in a choice position at the top right of the image. The pagoda tower is a symbol of the cosmopolitan diversity of the big city. The hopes and threats of technology include the space shuttle and graffiti evoking the polonium industry.
The work is dated but not located. Considering its exhibition history which begins in the following year, it was probably not made before Jean-Michel came back to New York.
1984 Warhol-Basquiat Untitled collaboration
2024 SOLD for $ 19.4M by Sotheby's
In 1984 Warhol and Basquiat created a series of large size paintings together in Warhol's Factory. The joint artworks of the experienced pop art leader and of the rising star merged their two styles. They created 160 paintings together in less than two years. Their collaboration was terminated with the failure of an exhibition by Shafrazi and Bischofberger in September-October 1985.
Warhol would start by painting a commercial image and then Basquiat would add his own youthful exuberance. Warhol started with a highly recognizable figure like a newspaper headline or a product logo. Basquiat added his imagery which was amended by Warhol and so on, something like a friendly conversation in paint.
The Zenith logo was a good symbol of the drift of consumerism. Once a leader of American television receivers, Zenith Radio Company had been a leader of antitrust claims against their Japanese competitors, looking for $ 900 million in damages. The trial court was ruling in favor of the Japanese. Zenith tried to survive the loss of radio and television markets by reconverting to computers.
An Untitled four hands painting executed in 1984 by Warhol and Basquiat as large as a wall poster is based on a huge red Zenith logo on left side, completed by typical Basquiat figures, heads, athletes and tags. Pseudo commercial Warholian inscriptions include three large 1/2, a 9.99 appealing price tag and an Exercise Specials. Several MOTHS add their damage to the consumerism.
This acrylic, silkscreen ink and oilstick on canvas 295 x 420 cm was sold for $ 19.4M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on May 13, 2024, lot 105. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The interpretation of the 1/2 as a discount is confirmed in 1985 by another Zenith based work where the red logo is accompanied by an aggressive heavy dark 50 % OFF. This acrylic on canvas 300 x 670 cm was sold for $ 11.4M by Phillips on May 15, 2014, lot 9.
Warhol would start by painting a commercial image and then Basquiat would add his own youthful exuberance. Warhol started with a highly recognizable figure like a newspaper headline or a product logo. Basquiat added his imagery which was amended by Warhol and so on, something like a friendly conversation in paint.
The Zenith logo was a good symbol of the drift of consumerism. Once a leader of American television receivers, Zenith Radio Company had been a leader of antitrust claims against their Japanese competitors, looking for $ 900 million in damages. The trial court was ruling in favor of the Japanese. Zenith tried to survive the loss of radio and television markets by reconverting to computers.
An Untitled four hands painting executed in 1984 by Warhol and Basquiat as large as a wall poster is based on a huge red Zenith logo on left side, completed by typical Basquiat figures, heads, athletes and tags. Pseudo commercial Warholian inscriptions include three large 1/2, a 9.99 appealing price tag and an Exercise Specials. Several MOTHS add their damage to the consumerism.
This acrylic, silkscreen ink and oilstick on canvas 295 x 420 cm was sold for $ 19.4M from a lower estimate of $ 15M by Sotheby's on May 13, 2024, lot 105. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The interpretation of the 1/2 as a discount is confirmed in 1985 by another Zenith based work where the red logo is accompanied by an aggressive heavy dark 50 % OFF. This acrylic on canvas 300 x 670 cm was sold for $ 11.4M by Phillips on May 15, 2014, lot 9.
1984 Ocean Park by Diebenkorn
2018 SOLD for $ 24M by Christie's
From 1967 to 1985, the series of paintings titled Ocean Park is the interpretation by Richard Diebenkorn of the atmosphere and colors of Santa Monica. Seeking the dazzling light as de Staël had done, he goes further by sublimating the landscape in abstract compositions.
During these two decades the emotions of the artist were changing. He interrupts Ocean Park in 1980 after opus 125. He feels the need for a greater realization of his vision on large canvases and composes opus 126 to 140 in 1984 and 1985.
Most of the paintings of this ultimate Ocean Park series leave a significant place to the colors of the shore. The starting opus of the new style, # 126, is an abstract landscape in many colors with a structured geometry. Its surface is built up of innumerable washes of color, each layer gently modifying and veiling those beneath.
# 126 was sold on May 17, 2018 by Christie's for $ 24M from a lower estimate of $ 16M, lot 26 B. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's before it passed on May 13, 2024, lot 118.
This oil on canvas 236 x 206 cm painted in 1984 displays the shimmering sun-filled colors of a Californian mid-day without shadows. Although the lowest stripe reflects the saturated blue of the sea, it is not a landscape. The two pairs of oblique lines have different vanishing points. A subtle reference to a reality is however provided by a small transparent triangle filled by the blue sky and small white clouds near the top of the image. The sun is a very elongated rectangle close to the upper edge.
During these two decades the emotions of the artist were changing. He interrupts Ocean Park in 1980 after opus 125. He feels the need for a greater realization of his vision on large canvases and composes opus 126 to 140 in 1984 and 1985.
Most of the paintings of this ultimate Ocean Park series leave a significant place to the colors of the shore. The starting opus of the new style, # 126, is an abstract landscape in many colors with a structured geometry. Its surface is built up of innumerable washes of color, each layer gently modifying and veiling those beneath.
# 126 was sold on May 17, 2018 by Christie's for $ 24M from a lower estimate of $ 16M, lot 26 B. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's before it passed on May 13, 2024, lot 118.
This oil on canvas 236 x 206 cm painted in 1984 displays the shimmering sun-filled colors of a Californian mid-day without shadows. Although the lowest stripe reflects the saturated blue of the sea, it is not a landscape. The two pairs of oblique lines have different vanishing points. A subtle reference to a reality is however provided by a small transparent triangle filled by the blue sky and small white clouds near the top of the image. The sun is a very elongated rectangle close to the upper edge.
1983-1984 Les Eléments Confédérés by Chu Teh-Chun
2020 SOLD for HK$ 114M by Sotheby's
Chu Teh-Chun arrived in Paris in 1955. Far from denying his origin, he wanted to draw inspiration from Western painting to modernize the Chinese art. He decided to use abstract art.
The Cultural Revolution had broken the ties between China and its diaspora. Liberalization terminates Chu's cultural isolation : he meets in Paris his former professor Lin Fengmian in 1979 and his old friend Wu Guanzhong in 1982. In 1983 Chu Teh-Chun and Zao Wou-Ki make separately a trip to China. Zao meets Zhang Daqian.
The trend is towards monumental paintings, which can take the form of polyptychs. The 2.80 x 10 m triptych painted in 1985 by Zao was sold for HK $ 510M by Sotheby's in 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's sold as lot 1014 for HK $ 114M a pentaptych 162 x 650 cm of oils on canvas by Chu Teh-Chun. It is dated 1983-1984, the period of reinvigoration of the Chinese culture of the artist. His most important works are the result of a development which can last several months, even several years. He does not have the creative impetuosity of Zao and enjoys working while listening to Beethoven's Hymn to Joy. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
The title, Les Eléments confédérés, explains this division into five parts which is unique in the art of Chu. The five elements that constitute nature according to Chinese conception, wood, earth, water, metal and fire, are basically distinct, but there is nothing to attribute one of them to a specific panel. They create an undifferentiated harmony together, like yin and yang in a diptych. Green and blue, traditional colors of landscapes in Chinese art, are dominant.
One of the five elements is facetious : water, which can turn into falling snow and whiten the landscapes. In December 1985 the train in which Chu crosses the Swiss Alps is caught in a snowstorm. The artist will translate into his art this additional complexity of the world, which is not limited to a mere confrontation of the five elements. Vertige neigeux, diptych 2 x 4 m dated 1990-1999, was sold for HK $ 92M by Christie's on November 26, 2016, lot 2508..
The Cultural Revolution had broken the ties between China and its diaspora. Liberalization terminates Chu's cultural isolation : he meets in Paris his former professor Lin Fengmian in 1979 and his old friend Wu Guanzhong in 1982. In 1983 Chu Teh-Chun and Zao Wou-Ki make separately a trip to China. Zao meets Zhang Daqian.
The trend is towards monumental paintings, which can take the form of polyptychs. The 2.80 x 10 m triptych painted in 1985 by Zao was sold for HK $ 510M by Sotheby's in 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's sold as lot 1014 for HK $ 114M a pentaptych 162 x 650 cm of oils on canvas by Chu Teh-Chun. It is dated 1983-1984, the period of reinvigoration of the Chinese culture of the artist. His most important works are the result of a development which can last several months, even several years. He does not have the creative impetuosity of Zao and enjoys working while listening to Beethoven's Hymn to Joy. Please watch the video shared by Sotheby's.
The title, Les Eléments confédérés, explains this division into five parts which is unique in the art of Chu. The five elements that constitute nature according to Chinese conception, wood, earth, water, metal and fire, are basically distinct, but there is nothing to attribute one of them to a specific panel. They create an undifferentiated harmony together, like yin and yang in a diptych. Green and blue, traditional colors of landscapes in Chinese art, are dominant.
One of the five elements is facetious : water, which can turn into falling snow and whiten the landscapes. In December 1985 the train in which Chu crosses the Swiss Alps is caught in a snowstorm. The artist will translate into his art this additional complexity of the world, which is not limited to a mere confrontation of the five elements. Vertige neigeux, diptych 2 x 4 m dated 1990-1999, was sold for HK $ 92M by Christie's on November 26, 2016, lot 2508..
1984 The Golden Canary
2022 SOLD for $ 12.4M by Sotheby's
A world class wonder is found by a girl in the early 1980s in the rubble of a former mine near a family home in Zaire. This 178 g amber colored piece of rick is a rough diamond of 890 carats. Exhibited in 1984 at the Smithsonian, it is in period the fourth largest rough diamond ever found, far below the Cullinan and just below the Excelsior and the Star of Sierra Leone.
Its shape was irregular with one striped face and one hollow face. Its cutting required four years of difficult work. The wonderful gem had a near perfect clarity in a variety of colors. The biggest finished diamond named The Incomparable was an internally flawless fancy deep brownish yellow shield shaped weighing 407.48 carats.
The shield was not eye catching. The Incomparable was down sized as a pear modified brilliant 53.38 x 33.50 x 22.20 mm weighing 303.10 carats with a very good symmetry.
It is renamed the Golden Canary. The GIA acknowledges it in 2022 as the largest Flawless or Internally flawless, and largest pear shaped diamong graded by them. It was sold for $ 12.4M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2022, lot 75.
Its shape was irregular with one striped face and one hollow face. Its cutting required four years of difficult work. The wonderful gem had a near perfect clarity in a variety of colors. The biggest finished diamond named The Incomparable was an internally flawless fancy deep brownish yellow shield shaped weighing 407.48 carats.
The shield was not eye catching. The Incomparable was down sized as a pear modified brilliant 53.38 x 33.50 x 22.20 mm weighing 303.10 carats with a very good symmetry.
It is renamed the Golden Canary. The GIA acknowledges it in 2022 as the largest Flawless or Internally flawless, and largest pear shaped diamong graded by them. It was sold for $ 12.4M by Sotheby's on December 7, 2022, lot 75.
A large, glittering yellow diamond, known as ‘Golden Canary’ and valued at about $15 million, was unveiled at Sotheby’s in Dubai pic.twitter.com/0kohTNJm4L
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 17, 2022
1984 Spoleto by Richter
2023 SOLD for $ 11.3M by Christie's
From the 1982 candles to the final selection of the squeegee as his ideal painting tool in 1986, Richter endeavors to improve his techniques, applied to contrasts of vibrant colors. The titles serve now to appeal the visitor without a link with the composition.
Painted in 1984, the Abstraktes Bild 565 series is made of two oil on canvas 200 x 180 cm where the composition is dominated by wide oblique lines.
Their technique allowed some chance. The artist lets the surface begin to dry. As a skin forms on the painted surface, he runs a hard edged tool which opens up the layers of paint below. In this mechanical process, he loses the full control of the paint.
The -1 titled Ypsilon was sold for £ 2.73M by Sotheby's on July 1, 2008, lot 58. The -2 titled Spoleto was sold for $ 11.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 44A.
Other titles still refer to the form of an object that introduces a three dimensional effect which may be compared with Kline's beams.
The series 553 painted in 1984 in oil on canvas 225 x 200 cm has three opus titled Vase, Besen (broom) and Aufzug (elevator) in a variety of bright colors. Abstraction is already dominating : there is no correlation between the three titles. Besen, the -2, was sold for HK $ 80M by Christies on May 26, 2022, lot 22.
Painted in 1984, the Abstraktes Bild 565 series is made of two oil on canvas 200 x 180 cm where the composition is dominated by wide oblique lines.
Their technique allowed some chance. The artist lets the surface begin to dry. As a skin forms on the painted surface, he runs a hard edged tool which opens up the layers of paint below. In this mechanical process, he loses the full control of the paint.
The -1 titled Ypsilon was sold for £ 2.73M by Sotheby's on July 1, 2008, lot 58. The -2 titled Spoleto was sold for $ 11.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 44A.
Other titles still refer to the form of an object that introduces a three dimensional effect which may be compared with Kline's beams.
The series 553 painted in 1984 in oil on canvas 225 x 200 cm has three opus titled Vase, Besen (broom) and Aufzug (elevator) in a variety of bright colors. Abstraction is already dominating : there is no correlation between the three titles. Besen, the -2, was sold for HK $ 80M by Christies on May 26, 2022, lot 22.
