Jean-Michel Basquiat

Private Collection
Christie's, New York, November 3, 1994, lot 156
Private Collection

Edinburgh, Fruitmarket Gallery; London, Institute of Contemporary Art; Rotterdam, Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Basquiat: Paintings 1981-1984, August 1984 - March 1985
Frankfurter Kunstverein Haus; Kasseler Kunstverein; Vienna, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vom Zeichnen - Aspekte der Zeichnung 1960-1985, November 1985 - April 1986, p. 41, illustrated
Vienna, KunsthausWien, Jean-Michel Basquiat, February - May 1999, illustrated
Künzelsau, Museum Würth, Jean-Michel Basquiat, October - January 2002

Exh. Cat., New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1992, p. 159
Richard D. Marshall and Jean-Louis Prat, eds., Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paris, 1996, 2nd Ed., Vol. II, cat. no. 8, p. 184, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The edges of the work show evidence of wear and handling, and the bottom edge in particular has a few dents, but the overall wear to the wood panels appears to be intended by the artist and inherent to the artist's working method, the studio environment, and the nature of the found wood panels. There are scattered accretions along the surface. The panel is split in two pieces, but the collaged paper on top of the split signals that this was present before the activity of painting and is original to the found medium. All of the collaged elements are in good condition and remain well adhered to the surface. The top left sheet of paper has a small tear at its bottom. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Done at the height of the artist’s career A Next stands as a comprehensive example of Basquiat’s myriad artistic concerns and represents a significant contribution to his engaging oeuvre. Various mediums and references combine on the picture plane to create an energetic and thought-provoking viewing experience. From 1982 to 1985, Basquiat created some of his most momentous works, merging collage, imagery and text on panel or canvas.  As is the case in A Next, Basquiat would often recycle earlier drawings into larger works, Xeroxing older sketches and pasting them on to found blocks of wood. This technique allowed him to create a multilayered effect of depth, cross-referencing different thought processes and interests. This work in particular is further developed by the addition of vibrant oils and pastels, which are used to highlight certain images and add to the complexity of the composition. The dominant red, yellow and blue hues are favorites of Basquiat’s and are used in many of his other works as well. The resulting composition is rich with eye-catching detail in the characteristically vibrant style of Basquiat, while at the same time populated with significant socio-cultural themes.

A Next is rife with symbolic references from Basquiat’s own visual language. The sketches and scrawled texts that make up the work were all sourced from the artist’s own personal trove of signs and symbols, some of which are discernable and others which elude comprehension. The addition of text is a key element of Basquiat’s process. His internal stream-of-consciousness is mapped out in scribbled lists that are often crossed out or re-worked. Consistent with his graffiti roots, Basquiat’s Xeroxed drawings are marked up with street-wary confidence. Many of the pasted-on reproductions in A Next are sourced from The Daros Suite of Thirty-Two Drawings (1982-83). On either side of the composition in A Next, the number 5 protrudes on a bright yellow raised block. This symbol, which is very similar to the capital letter S, could suggest Basquiat’s graffiti moniker SAMO, which along with friend Al Diaz he tagged on buildings and subways during his early career.

Other identifiable symbols from Basquiat’s personal trove of cyphers emerge in A Next as well. Swathed in yellow in the lower right the bold letters of “salt” emerge. Basquiat admittedly incorporated chemical elements in his work, often using gold paint or words such as “lead” and “asbestos”. Much of Basquiat’s practice contains an almost studied aspect. He would appropriate works from history books and other academic sources. He was very interested in anatomy, a concern that is reflected in A Next in the bones and organs that are sketched out below the portrait head, the animalistic jaw bone floating along the left side and the scribbled words “cornea” and “retina”. The inclusion of body parts is consistent across many of Basquiat’s works, and he is especially known for his grimacing skull-like faces.  Myriad references that are consistent across the artist’s practice recur in A Next and add to its multilayered effect.

Basquiat’s ability to expertly combine his graffiti origins with more sophisticated themes comes to the forefront in this work. To the lower left the words “boxing gloves” can be made out numerous times. Basquiat often included portraits or features of famous African American athletes such as Hank Aaron, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. Basquiat was able to identify with these men’s success in white-dominated industries as he was one of the only African American men breaking into the art world at the time. As Glenn O’Brien aptly notes, Basquiat “presented so simply how society expected black people to be athletes and not painters” (Glenn O’Brien in New York, Deitch Projects, Jean Michel Basquiat 1981: Studio of the Street, 2006, p. 19). By including this textual reference to black boxers who have achieved fame and social recognition through violence as a central element of this work, Basquiat pollenates A Next with an undercurrent of social criticism.

Central to this composition is a capped and bearded man, perhaps a portrait of the Haitian author Jacques Stephen Alexis. Under the tyrannical reign of dictator François Duvalier, Alexis’s leftist novels spread hope to the Haitian people. Half-Haitian on his father’s side, Basquiat would have closely followed the politics of this country, and appreciated Alexis’s activism.   He is depicted here surrounded by a field of bright blue, which highlights and draws attention to his portrait. Additionally, a bright red halo motif hovers over his head, ennobling this man in the same way that a crown would.  Generally, crowns or halos are used by Basquiat to celebrate his idols or people he admires.  The name “Duvailer” is repeated several times to the left of this face, almost as a foreshadowing of the dictators role in the murder of Alexis in 1961, along with 30,000 other Haitians.  The inclusion of these characters in A Next increases the complexity of this work, and stands as an impressive example of Basquiat’s ability to approach controversial themes through the raw medium of graffiti. A Next brings out multiple concerns that emerge throughout Basquiat’s artistic career. Graffiti origins inform the works stylistic components, while more cultivated references subtly develop as the scribbled symbols are deciphered.