“Looking at [Basquiat’s works on paper], one cannot escape without feeling the almost perverse sense of care taken to raw detail with what seems an acute distracted concentration.”
Executed at the apex of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s career, Untitled offers a glimpse into the artist’s energetic, imaginative and ingenious mind. The present work illustrates a vibrant symphony of densely layered motifs and symbols that have come to characterize Basquiat’s diverse practice.
The present work is a masterly combination of symbols, words, and small figures that are instantly recognizable features of Basquiat’s oeuvre. Different from his paintings, the frenetic energy of Basquiat’s works on paper are unique in their raw immediacy that pave the way for his creative genius to shine through in an unaltered fashion.
A self-taught artist, Basquiat’s genius lay in his instinctive understanding of composition and unique iconographic lexicon, and the immediacy of paper as a medium provided the perfect vehicle for Basquiat’s innate brilliance. It is easy to see the appeal of working on paper for Basquiat as there is little possibility of correction through overpainting. As a result, works on paper, including the present example, stand as tangible records of the artist’s otherworldly way of thinking and in turn his limitless creative potential.
As seen in the present work, Basquiat repeatedly scratches off segments of the composition as well as leaves parts unfinished, unearthing the rapidness of his artistic thinking resulting in a raw work of art that holds true to the artist's innate skill.