Lot 11
  • 11

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT | Untitled

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 EUR
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Description

  • Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Untitled
  • acrilico, pastelli a cera, pennarello e collage xerox su tela su cartone
  • cm 61x51
  • Eseguito nel 1981

Provenance

Tornabuoni Arte, Firenze, Londra, Parigi
Ivi acquistato negli anni Novanta

Exhibited

Losanna, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1993, p. 29
Parigi, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Jean-Michel Basquait, 1996

Literature

Richard D. Marshal, Jean-Louis Prat, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Parigi 1996, vol. I, p. 31, illustrato

Condition

This work is in very good overall condition. There are minor traces of dirt by the upper right and lower left corners. No traces of retouching appear to be visible under UV light.
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Catalogue Note

“Insegnavo a quelli di seconda elementare quando andavo in quarta (macchine fatte con graffette + nastro adesivo + fermagli)”. Jean Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Biography), 1983 Le macchine sono un soggetto che Basquiat dipinge per tutta la vita. Un veicolo vero e proprio e un veicolo che trasporta idee, un mezzo che accompagna tutta la sua evoluzione stilistica nel tragitto della sua breve vita.
I suoi dipinti trasmettono un sistema di valori estetici alternativi dove i riferimenti alla strada, all’arte africana  e allo stile dei graffiti newyorkesi sono quasi onnipresenti. Basquiat improvvisa nei suoi quadri con lettere,famose e ricorrenti le “AAAA”, oggetti stilizzati e colore, come se fosse il Charlie Parker dell’arte.  Ma non è solo dal Jazz nero americano che trae ispirazione, spesso allude ad atleti come Hank Aaron (“AAAA”?) o a pugili come Cassius Clay e Mohammed Ali. 
Basta un colpo d’occhio per ritrovare tutte queste cifre stilistiche in Untitled: l’automobile, arricchita da un misterioso oggetto al suo interno, le AAAA, il colore steso quasi con violenza e disinteresse a coprire parte della tela. Risale al 1981, anno in cui Jean Michel partecipa assieme agli amici Warhol e Haring  alla New York/ New Wave organizzata da Diego Cortez. È anche l’anno di Cadillac Moon, una tela sporcata da acrilico e pastello che ricorda la maniera di Twombly e il suo “primitivismo infantile”.
L’arte di Twombly come quella della strada hanno contribuito a rendere Basquiat l’artista passato alla storia come The Radiant Child. 

“Jean Michel visse come una fiamma.
Bruciò luminosissimo.
Poi il fuoco si spense.
Ma le braci ardono ancora.”
Fred Braithwaite

"TAUGHT SECOND GRADERS WHEN I WAS IN THE FOURTH GRADE (CARS MADE OF PAPERCLIPS MASKING TAPE + FASTENERS)", Jean Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Biography), 1983

Cars were a subject that Basquiat painted throughout his life. A vehicle in and of itself and a vehicle for ideas, a vehicle that drove his stylistic evolution throughout the journey of his short life.
His paintings convey a system of alternative aesthetic values ​​where references to the street, to African art and to New York graffiti are almost omnipresent. Basquiat experiments with letters, such as the well known and recurrent "AAAA", stylised objects and colour in his paintings, as if he were the Charlie Parker of art. But he was not simply inspired by American black jazz, he also alludes to athletes like Hank Aaron ('AAAA'?) Or to boxers like Cassius Clay and Mohammed Ali. 
A mere glance is enough to find all these stylistic figures within Untitled: the car, with a mysterious object inside, the 'AAAA', the colour spread almost violently and disinterestedly which covers part of the canvas. It dates from 1981, the year in which Jean-Michel participated in New York / New Wave organized by Diego Cortez, with friends Warhol and Haring. It is also the year of Cadillac Moon, a canvas stained with acrylic and pastel that recalls Twombly and his "infantile primitivism".
Both Twombly and street art helped make Basquiat the artist who has gone down in history as 'The Radiant Child'.

"Jean-Michel lived like a flame. 
He burned really bright.
Then the fire went out.
But the embers are still hot."
Fred Braithwaite