Christie's to auction two monumental paintings by Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat - The Guilt Of Gold-Teeth - 1982
Between November and December 2021, Christie's will auction two monumental works painted in 1982 by Jean-Michel Basquiat: "The Guilt of Gold Teeth" and "Donut Revenge".
Source: Christie's. Image: Jean-Michel Basquiat, "The Guilt of Gold Teeth", 1982. Oil on canvas, 240 x 420.4 cm. © Jean-Michel Basquiat / ARS New York
Just a few days after Christie's announced that the next 21st Century Art auction -to be held in New York on 9 November 2021- will include a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat painted by Andy Warhol in 1982, the auction house has announced that Basquiat will be the protagonist of the auction, this time as the author of the auction's star lot, "The Guilt of Gold Teeth", a monumental work painted in 1982, dominated by a central figure which, according to the auction house, represents Baron Samedi, a spirit of Haitian Vodou.
1982 was Jean-Michel Basquiat's "magic year", the year in which, according to the artist himself, he painted his most famous works, such as "Profit I" and "Boy and Dog in a johnnypump". Particularly noteworthy are a series of eight works painted in Modena, Italy, two of which have set auction records for the artist: the aforementioned "Profit I", sold by Christie's for $5.5 million in 2002 (the catalogue of that auction stated that this work "is considered Basquiat's greatest masterpiece"), and more recently, "Untitled", auctioned - also by Christie's - for $57.3 million in 2016.
Christie's has not published an estimated pre-sale price for the work, although some sources have suggested a figure of around $40 million, which would be more than 100 times the price achieved by the painting the last time it was auctioned, in 1998.
In addition to this work, Christie's has also announced the auction in December of "Donut Revenge", another work painted in 1982 by Jean-Michel Basquiat. On this occasion, the painting has an estimated pre-sale price of between $18 million and $25 million. The auction, which will take place in Hong Kong, hopes to repeat the success of "Warrior", another 1982 Basquiat painting auctioned last March for $42 million.

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