In September of 1968, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s mother, Matilde gave her son a copy of the book Grey’s Anatomy as he was recovering from surgery after a car accident. During this month-long recuperation in the hospital, he studied the pages of the human anatomy textbook and so began his life-long fascination with the body and particularly the skeletal structure. The book had a lasting impression with the artist, who would later produce work heavily influenced by the anatomical images. While his subjects were given character, death is an omnipresent force that infiltrates Basquiat’s work. His earliest paintings of heads and faces contain resemblances to death masks or skulls, and the frequent inclusion of skeletons and skulls elicits a haunting sense.
The present lot functions as a close and intimate study of some of the monumental paintings produced in the same year, including the renowned Untitled (Skull), 1981, in the Collection of Eli and Edythe L. Broad. Although straying from anatomical accuracy, Basquiat emphasized the expressive qualities of the skull, as if the skull were alive and responsive to external conditions. It appears to be alert and vigilant in our world while simultaneously labeled as no longer with us, an animated and youthful attribute.
