In 2022, Christie's brought to auction a 1982 triptych on wood panels by blue-chip artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, titled Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict. Much to the surprise of the auction world, the work, carrying an estimate of US$30 million, was withdrawn at the last minute.
Now that two years have passed, the piece once again hits the market, this time in London rather than New York, and the auction house has shifted from Christie's to Sotheby's. Notably, its estimated value has been significantly reduced to 60% of its price from two years ago at £15 million (US$18 million).
According to Sotheby's website, the work has been secured by a guarantee and an irrevocable bid, meaning it will surely sell.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict at a Hong Kong preview two years ago
Lot 18 | Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) | Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict, Oil, oil stick, and acrylic on wood and metal
Executed in 1982
203.2 x 208.3 cm
Provenance:
- Fun Gallery, New York
- Galerie Jacques Mostini, Paris
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: £15,000,000 - 20,000,000 (US$18 million)
Auction House: Sotheby's London
Sale: Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction, including the Ralph I. Goldenberg Collection
Date and Time: 25 June 2024 | 6:00 pm (London local time)
It is universally acknowledged that 1982 was the most significant year in Basquiat's tragically short yet enduringly prolific career – it marked the 21-year-old artist's definitive entrance from living on the street into the international art world.
In March of that year, Annina Nosei, the New York gallerist who discovered Basquiat and gave him a studio space beneath her gallery, staged his debut solo show in New York, and it was an overnight sensation. Just three months later, he became the youngest artist ever to be invited to participate in the landmark Documenta VII exhibition in Germany, spreading his reputation across the Atlantic to the rest of Europe.
As he rocketed to art world stardom, however, the young artist faced criticism which argued his fame and ties to SoHo galleries were causing his work to lose its edge. A rebel to the core, Basquiat decided to dismantle traditional canvas painting, instead crafting his own stretchers and frames out of a whole host of found materials on the street, such as carpet tacks, wooden beams, and slats.
These "stretcher bar" canvases, as they have come to be known, were unveiled at his landmark Fun Gallery exhibition in November of that year and have become some of the most iconic works of his career, with examples housed in major museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The Menil Collection in Houston. The Arnault family, owner of LVMH, also reportedly owns a robin's egg-color one titled Equals pi, featured in a Tiffany & Co. campaign in 2021.
Jean-Michel Basquiat at Fun Gallery in November 1982
Jean-Michel Basquiat | A Panel of Experts (1982) | Montreal Museum of Art
Tiffany & Co.'s "About Love" campaign in 2021 features Beyoncé and Jay-Z with Basquiat's Equals pi as a backdrop
Executed in 1982 for that Fun Gallery show, Portrait of the Artist as a Yong Derelict is like those examples, being constructed from discarded scraps; yet unlike them, the shape of the picture support appears utterly irregular and unique, reminiscent of a Renaissance altarpiece in its triptych format.
At the center of the three found panels joined with hinges is a domestic door – an object which Basquiat cited as one of his earliest painted surfaces prior to his commercial success. He noted how "the first paintings" he ever made were on the ad-hoc surfaces of doors and windows: "I used the window shape as a frame and I just put the painting on the glass part and on doors I found on the street."
With a variety of sources and materials collaged onto the wooden panels, the present work undoubtedly references his earlier involvement in graffiti culture, evoking the frenetic strata of stimuli that characterized the metropolitan cacophony of Basquiat’s New York surrounds.
The present lot is assembled from found materials, including a once-functional door
Within the work, Basquiat’s most iconic words and signature symbols are incorporated alongside fresh materials and influences in the form of language:
Crown: The artist’s signature three-pointed crown. The simple symbol has become a visual representation of the artist that appears in many of his most important works. On a foundational layer of black paint, adorned by Pollock-like drips of white, Basquiat’s crown emerges out of a tumultuous swirl of gray paint, hinting at Basquiat’s ascendancy as a black teenager into a white-dominated art world.
S: The Cool S sign, a reference to graffiti iconography which Basquiat used heavily in his paintings in 1982
Salt: An important word within Basquiat’s lexicon, alluding to the historical significance of salt as a crucial commodity. It contributed to the Atlantic slave trade, and wars were fought over salt taxes and trade policies.
Ankle: Anatomical drawings were a touchstone for the artist, a fascination sparked by his childhood readings of Gray's Anatomy.
HICE[ST]REX: A Latin phrase for "Here is the King," directly referring to the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament. The bracketed “[ST]” – a classic abbreviation – reinforces Basquiat’s self-proclamation as King of the Street.
Basquiat has achieved legendary status on the auction market in recent years, with his works commanding phenomenally high prices and headlines every season. In 2022, his five-metre Untitled sold for US$85 million at Phillips New York, making it the most expensive Basquiat painting of the year.
In that same year though, the present work, carrying an estimate of US$30 million was withdrawn, while another wood panel artwork, Water Worshipper (1984), ended up in the red at its estimate of HK$62 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong. This suggests that during that period, Basquiat's wood panel works may have had relatively less allure compared to his canvas works in the eyes of collectors.
Jean-Michel Basquiat | Untitled (ELMAR) (1982) | Sold: US$46,479,000, Phillips New York, 2024
Jean-Michel Basquiat | The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet (1982) | Sold: US$32,035,000, Christie's New York, 2024
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat | Untitled (1984) | Sold: US$19,367,500, Sotheby's New York
Coming to 2024, Basquiat's market has remained robust and there's no question that he has had a moment during the recent marquee May auctions. While all three major auction houses – Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips –all offered major Basquiat paintings as star lots of their evening sales, two fresh-to-market 1982 pieces sold at Phillips became the highest-selling lots both in New York and Hong Kong sale week.
- Untitled (ELMAR) (1982) | 172.7 x 236.5 cm | Sold: US$46,479,000, Phillips New York
- The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet (1982) | 294.6 x 419.7 cm | Sold: US$32,035,000, Christie's New York
- Untitled (1984) (in collaboration with Andy Warhol) | 294.6 x 419.7 cm | Sold: US$19,367,500, Sotheby's New York
- Native Carrying Some Guns, Bibles, Amorites on Safari (1982) | 183.2 x 182.2 cm | HK$98,735,000 (around US$12.7 million), Phillips Hong Kong
Backed by an irrevocable bid, the present work has already been sold but whether or not it will further pique the interest of other collectors remains to be seen next week in London.