Jean-Michel Basquiat's Radical Visual Poetry in Four Works

“Since I was seventeen, I thought I might be a star”, Basquiat wrote, and at the age of 22 he was thrust into the Contemporary Art spotlight. Join Michael Macaulay, Senior International Specialist, Contemporary Art, in an exploration of four works that highlight how Basquiat channeled the explosive energy of his early street art into the staggeringly intense canvases of his mature career. From a large scale collaboration between Basquiat and Andy Warhol to a hauntingly reductive figure painted shortly before the artist’s death, these works chronicle the mastery of language, medium, and form that transformed Basquiat from street artist to internationally recognized icon. Explore these pieces and more in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction.