Jean-Michel Basquiat painted
Untitled in 1981, a pivotal year when he transitioned from
street artist into the adulation of the New York
art scene. He worked in the basement of
Annina Nosei's gallery in
SoHo where
Untitled was executed. The artwork depicts a fisherman wearing a
crown of thorns and a halo of the same nature. He is standing at the center of the canvas proudly displays his catch, a large fish hanging at the end of a fishing rod. His black body reveals a white skeletal figure. The painting had previously been
auctioned in 1988, a few months after Basquiat's death, and sold for $110,000. Sold by fashion photographer
Patrick Demarchelier in 2012, it was anticipated to break records before its auction in 2012. Loic Gouzer, international specialist of
post-war and
contemporary art at Christie's said in a statement: "In contrast to most artists, Basquiat created his best paintings at the beginning of his career.
Untitled 1981 unites all the elements of energy, freedom and boldness that one looks for in Basquiat. The market has been waiting a long time for a work of this caliber and freshness, therefore we expect it to set a new record for Basquiat, an artist who is in the process of being recognized as a classic of Post-War American Art alongside
Warhol,
De Kooning and
Pollock." The sale exceeded Basquiat's previous record of $20.1 million for another
Untitled (1981) sold in June 2012. That record has since been surpassed by multiple other paintings. His current record high at auction is
Untitled (1982), which sold for $110.5 million at
Sotheby's in May 2017. The cover of the 2021 album
Pray for Haiti by Haitian-American rapper
Mach-Hommy is a pastiche of
Untitled. ==Exhibitions==