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172 PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF SCOTT D.F. SPIEGEL Jean-Michel-Basquiat Untitled signed "JM Basquiat" on the reverse oil paintstick on paper 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm.) Executed in 1982, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Authentication Committee of the Estate of Jean-Michel-Basquiat and dates the work 1982/83.
Provenance Scott D.F. Spiegel, Los Angeles (acquired directly from the artist in 1982) Catalogue Essay Basquiat’s Transcendental Skull by Fred Hoffman At the time of his death, Basquiat possessed a large number of his 1982, individualized, single head studies many of which were exhibited by Robert Miller Gallery in 1990 and shown, displayed in salon style on a single wall. The fact that Basquiat kept so many of these in his personal collection further emphasizes their importance as artistic starting points, faces from which he drew inspiration. The four single head drawings from the Collection of Scott D.F. Spiegel were acquired by Scott when other Basquiat collectors remained focused on his paintings. This further highlights Scott’s ability to see the quality and artistic importance of Basquiat’s works on paper. Jean-Michel-Basquiat’s 1982 image of a cow skull is an anomaly in his oeuvre. Prior to the creation of this work the artist rendered a decomposing cow alongside a standing black figure in Acque Pericolose, 1981. Other early images of the head of a four-legged creature are Television and Cruelty to Animals, 1983 and Roosevelt III, 1983 both of which are more caricature renderings and refer to the friendly creature from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Basquiat’s 1982 image of a cow skull stands apart, less referential to nature or popular culture, more symbolic and iconic. Basquiat has rendered his image simply, outlining its generalized shape in black. Contained within the edges of this frontally-defined shape Basquiat animates his facial depiction by means of his unexpected choice of a bright, luminous and inviting blue, accompanied by eyes in a bright red. If Basquiat’s choice of colors for his figure departs from physiognomic likeness it implies and inspires viewer engagement. The work’s assertive frontality, combined with its luminous coloration, draws the viewer towards its mysterious presence. Having distinguished his image from a recognizable creature, Basquiat’s image takes on attributes of a mythic figure, even suggesting that this creature symbolizes another realm, another state of consciousness. In this regard Basquiat’s cow skull conveys mythic attributes--- akin to some of Picasso’s bovine creatures including, Bulls Skull, c. 1942 and Bulls Skull, Fruit and Pitcher, 1939. Basquiat’s cow skull feels larger than life. While full of vitality and energy, it exudes something more than a physiological presence. Basquiat’s decision to render this figure in a light-filled blue links the work to atmospheric effects achieved in works such as Untitled (LA Painting), 1982 and Untitled (Black Tar and Feathers), 1982. The deep blue background in both of these works suggests more than a naturalistic atmosphere; it was Basquiat’s means of alluding to something beyond our psycho-physical state of being—the transcendental. So too does his choice of coloration for his simple cow skull, a work clearly heralding a higher state of being. Read More