Jean-Michel Basquiat

Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich
Collection particulière, Italie
Acquis auprès de celle-ci par le propriétaire actuel circa 1990

Milan, La Posteria, Epocale, Pop/Graffiti/Cracking, 29 mars - 24 mai 1998

The colours are fairly accurate in the catalogue illustration although the red is brighter and the blue is lighted in the original work. The work is executed on its original canvas and is not relined. The upper edge presents some minor wear and dirt, visible only under close inspection. Under Ultra Violet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. This work is in excellent condition.
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COMP 

Masque, Région Umongo, République Démocratique du Congo, Haut. 22cm, Collection particulière

Né d’un père haïtien et d’une mère portoricaine, Jean-Michel Basquiat a toujours revendiqué ses origines africaines, aussi lointaines pouvaient-elles être. En 1986, il accomplit deux voyages pour se rapprocher de ses racines : le premier en  Côte d’Ivoire, où son galeriste Bruno Bischofberger organise au Centre Culturel français d’Abidjan la première exposition de Basquiat sur le Continent Noir ; le second dans le sud des Etats-Unis - qu’il ne visitera aussi qu’une seule fois dans sa vie - à l’occasion d’une présentation de son travail à la Fay Gold Gallery d’Atlanta.

Traitement régressif, figures aux traits caricaturaux rappelant des masques rituels, références à des éléments majeurs de la culture afro-caribéenne colle le vaudou… L’iconographie africaine se lisait depuis quelques temps dans les œuvres de Basquiat, elle devient omniprésente. Car aussi américaine et contextuellement marquée que peut être son œuvre, elle n'en demeure pas moins un réservoir à mythologies, piochant dans l'histoire de l'art occidental aussi bien que dans l'identité africaine.

Untitled, 1986 en est le parfait exemple, mêlant savamment africanité et influences européennes, primitivisme et art brut ; la composition du tableau rappelant à la fois la statuaire tribale et l’œuvre d’artistes incontournables de la seconde partie du XXe siècle comme Dubuffet, en particulier le cycle Corps de dames.

Autre élément du vocabulaire artistique de Basquiat essentiel dans la composition de l’oeuvre : la centralité du visage. « Dans cette pratique, Basquiat engage toutes les forces de son narcissisme, toutes les forces interrogatives qu’il porte et qui le conduisent de tableau en tableau à cristalliser dans l’image du visage, l’ensemble des questions posées au sujet-peintre qu’il inscrit et construit à la fois. » (Michel Enrici, Sur trois visages de Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1989, Editions La Différence)

Born to a Haitian father and a Porto Rican mother, Jean-Michel Basquiat always asserted his African origins, as distant as they may be. In 1986, he made two trips to discover his roots: the first to the Ivory Coast, where his dealer Bruno Bischofberger organised Basquiat’s first solo show on the African continent at the Centre Culturel français in Abidjan; and the second to the South of the United States – which he would visit only once in his life – on the occasion of the presentation of his work at the Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta.

A regressive style and rough brushwork, mask like faces and references to voodoo and the Afro-Caribbean culture; African iconography, which had been present in Basquiat’s works for a long time, now became omnipresent. As American and contextually specific as his work may be, it remains a reservoir of mythology, drawing as much upon Western history of art as upon African identity.

Untitled, 1986 is a perfect example of this, skilfully combining the African with European influences, primitivism and art brut. Indeed, the painting’s composition is often reminiscent of both tribal statuary and the works of major artists from the second half of the 20^th century such as Dubuffet, in particular the Corps de dames cycle.

Another element of Basquiat’s artistic vocabulary essential to the work’s composition is the centrality of the face. “In this practice, Basquiat engages all the forces of his narcissism, all the questioning forces he carries within him and which lead him from painting to painting to crystallise in the image of the face, all questions concerning the painter-subject that he inscribes and constructs at the same time.” (Michel Enrici, Sur trois visages de Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1989, Editions La Différence).