Executed in 1982 when the artist was just 22-years-old, the work has been held in the same private collection since the early 90s and was exhibited in the artist’s defining retrospective at Fondation Louis Vuitton in 2019. Basquiat often indicates the heroic status of his subjects by adorning their heads with a crown or a halo. Likely inspired by the artist’s passionate travels to Italy in 1981-1982, in Untitled, our hero is decorated by a laurel wreath—a symbol of triumph, honor, and victory in Greek and Roman mythology—while retaining a characteristic air of self-portraiture. Estimated $20 million – 30 million, Untitled is the leading highlight of the 21st Century Evening sale and poised to set a new record for a work on paper.
Alex Rotter, Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art, Christie’s, remarks, “This portrait is the greatest work on paper I have ever seen by Basquiat. It punches above its weight. The face of the figure emanates power. This work is Basquiat as his best. Offering it this November is the ultimate honor.”
Kat Widing, Head of 21st Century Evening Sale, Christie’s, remarks, “The ethos of our 21st century sale is to dynamically present the most groundbreaking works of the past fifty years. Each work in the auction is thoughtfully selected to represent the powerful art of our time.”
The sale also includes an exemplary Flight Fantasy sculpture by David Hammons from the late 1970s ($2 million – 3 million), which skillfully combines socially resonant and found mediums into a form that resembles a bird in flight or ceremonial mask. Among the first in the series, the work was created as a commission for the Hartfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta and was acquired by the consignor directly from the artist, with whom it has remained for almost half a century. Further highlights include Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama ($6 million – 8 million), the largest sculpture of its kind to ever come to auction and The Butcher and the Policeman ($4 million – 6 million) an exuberant canvas by Cecily Brown from 2013, the title of which references Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The work comes to Christie’s this fall, coinciding with Brown’s major US retrospective on view at the Dallas Museum of Art and traveling to the Barnes Foundation in 2025.
Main Image: Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) Untitled, oilstick on paper, 63½ x 44 in. (161.3 x 111.8 cm.) Executed in 1982. Estimate: $20,000,000-30,000,000
