NOTE:
Original small painting, circa 1980
History channel appraised similar for $50,000.00 each.
First Aired: January 23, 2017
Items included original postcards by Jean-Michel Basquiat from Kevin Doyle's "Subway Collection";
Jean Michel Basquiat is an icon for American
artistic genius.
He’s been hailed as one of the greatest Neo-Expressionist painters in to ever live and references to his work abound in hip hop and punk culture.
On the streets of lower Manhattan, Jean-Michel Basquiat produced postcards and t-shirts before he ever sold a painting.
The artist's early NYC souvenir artwork attests to his perspective on African-American culture, pop culture and fine
art. Described by critic John Russell as proceeding "by disjunction - that
is, by making marks that seem quite unrelated but turn out to get on very well
together".
Basquiat's work is described as Primitive. The cards, such as this salute to an iconic heavyweight boxing champion, feature playfulness of expression and allusion.
Muhammad Ali tribute postcard offered now is from the Graffiti writing teenager's legendary lost portfolio case before he became one the 20th century's most important painters.
Uncatalogued NYC souvenir postcard by Jean-Michel Basquiat, circa 1980, from Subway Collection as mentioned by Julian Schnabel in Dieter Buchhart's book entitled Jean-Michel Basquiat, publisher: Hatje Cantz 2010.
MUHAMMAD ALI POSTCARD PAINTING
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
PROVENANCE:
The artist
Private collection 1980
The first African-American artist to attain art super-stardom,
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) created a huge oeuvre of drawings and
paintings.
Through his street roots in graffiti, Basquiat helped to
establish new possibilities for figurative and expressionistic painting,
breaking the white male stranglehold of Conceptual and Minimal art, and
foreshadowing, among other tendencies, Germany's Junge Wilde
movement. It was not only Basquiat's art but also the details of his
biography that made his name legendary--his early years as "SAMO" (his
graffiti artist moniker), his friendships with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring
and Madonna and his tragically early death from a heroin overdose.
Jean-Michel was
born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Puerto Rican mother and a Haitian
father--an ethnic mix that meant young Jean-Michel was fluent in French,
Spanish and English by the age of 11. In 1977, at the age of 17,
Basquiat took up graffiti, inscribing the landscape of downtown
Manhattan with his signature "SAMO". In 1980 he was included in the
landmark group exhibition The Times Square Show; the following
year, at the age of 21, Basquiat became the youngest artist ever to be
invited to Documenta.
By 1982, Basquiat had befriended Andy Warhol and eventually collaborated with him; Basquiat was much affected by Warhol's
death in 1987.
Jean-Michel died the next year on August 22, at the age of 27.
Basquiat Subway Art Case Collection of Various Works
HISTORY
American
author Kevin Doyle was friendly with Jean-Michel Basquiat in the late
70’s and mentored him on how to market his drawings, postcards and t-shirts.
Doyle helped Basquiat with money or advice and the artist sometimes
gave him drawings and postcards in return. One of those uncatalogued works (the globe) is quite well known.
In the early 80's, Doyle sought attention from the New York literary world using Basquiat's colorful artwork for agent query
In
1980, Basquiat and Doyle rode the subway together and the artist
departed the transit car one stop before the writer, leaving behind a
case full of unsold drawings and postcards. The event is mentioned by
Julian Schnabel in a book co-authored by Mr. Dieter Buchhart titled
Jean-Michele Basquiat.
Doyle made several attempts over the
course of 2 or 3 years to return the portfolio but never brought the
artist together with it again.
Basquiat achieved a high level of
fame after the subway ride with Doyle, and became disinterested in
Doyle's efforts to return the case and missed several appointments with
the writer.
The last time Kevin Doyle saw Basquiat, by
happenstance, in Greenwich Village, Jean-Michel told him to keep the
case and its contents.
Over the years the art case was left in
various homes owned by Doyle and recently removed from storage at his Newfane, Vermont home.
Piece offered here from
portfolio of drawings left on subway car.