Jean-Michel Basquiat

Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris
Private Collection (acquired from the above in 1987)

New York, Sotheby's S|2, I Like It Like This: S|2 x Drake, cat. no. 8, pp. 42-45, illustrated in color

This work is in very good condition overall. The lateral edges of the sheet are deckled. There is a slight undulation to the sheet. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the extreme edges of the sheet. There is a minor tear along the lower right edge and a small tear to the upper left corner of the lowest central collaged element. The sheet is hinged verso to the matte intermittently along the edges and throughout. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

A perfect example of Jean Michel Basquiat’s signature aesthetic, Untitled (E Pluribus Unum), provides dramatic evidence of the remarkable confidence and talent of an artist, who has fully grasped his mastery over the medium. Executed in 1986, when Basquiat was at the height of his fame and his artistic prowess, this work embodies Basquiat’s artistic skill as well as his enigmatic personality. When one beholds E Pluribus Unum, he is inundated with a scattering of images strewn all over the canvas. The sheer quantity of subjects makes the act of processing them all nearly impossible and certainly exhausting. However, there is one pattern that ties the work together, the scrawling of the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum across the painting. E Pluribus Unum is America’s official motto, and it translates to 'out of many, one.' Out of all these different peoples and ideas, America is ultimately one united country. Although this is the slogan for the United States, it is very much applicable to Basquiat’s work as a painter. Basquiat was an intellectual sponge, absorbing everything that he saw and heard and then recontextualizing these images and ideas into his paintings. He could take seemingly unrelated subject matters and combine them into a single coherent work. Starting from his early days as a graffiti writer, Basquiat had a habit of writing well known sayings, people, and companies on urban walls, so it was only a matter of time before he turned his attention to the Latin phrase that can be found on American currency.  When he made the jump from concrete to paper and canvas, Basquiat developed a style that was a combination of the primitivism that defined that modernist art school of the early 20^th Century, to which greats like Pablo Picasso subscribed, and the Pop commercialism that permeated through the latter half of the same century. In this work we see an artist combine and execute both of these ideas to perfection.