Warhol's portrait of Basquiat up for auction
Andy Warhol - Portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat - 1982
Next November, Christie's will auction a portrait of the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat painted by Andy Warhol in 1982.
Source: Christie's. Image: Andy Warhol, "Jean-Michel Basquiat", 1982. Estimate on request (in excess of $20 million). Image ©Artists Rights Society, New York.
1982 was Jean-Michel Basquiat's "magic year", the year in which -by the artist's own admission- he painted his most accomplished and famous works, such as "Profit I" and "Boy and Dog in a johnnypump". For his part, Andy Warhol, by then a legend whose fame transcended the contemporary art scene, was going through a period of artistic renewal thanks in part to his ability to relate to (and to some extent take advantage of) young artists, among them Basquiat himself. This marriage of young talent with Warhol's legendary fame is reflected in the series of portraits Warhol painted of Basquiat in 1982.
For the portrait to be auctioned at Christie's (which, according to the auction house, is the only one of the series in private hands), Warhol chose the 40 x 40 inch format, which he reserved for some of his most famous paintings, such as the four "Shot" Marilyns of 1964. Coming from the collection of the famous collector Peter Brant, the work has been exhibited on numerous occasions.
In a press release, Christie's notes how Warhol and Basquiat "have done much to shape the current cultural landscape; from music to fashion, and TikTok to Instagram, their visual philosophy remains as relevant today as it ever has". The art market, as we all know, has not been slow to recognise the importance of Warhol's paintings, although so far the highest prices have always been for his paintings from the first half of the 1960s, such as "Silver Car Crash", "Eight Elvises" or his aforementioned "Shot Marilyns".

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