Copy after a work by Jean-Michel Basquiat
This copy of Untitled (Skull) is made in mixed media, using acrylic and oil on canvas, and measures 100 × 120 cm. Jean-Michel Basquiat painted the original in 1981 with acrylic and oilstick on canvas. The work belongs to the collection of The Broad in Los Angeles.On the original: The Broad
The head seems to lie open before the viewer, revealing an anatomy that coexists with an alert eye and a restrained expression. This tension invites a reading about the vulnerability of a person exposed to the gaze of others. The divisions of the face suggest the difficulty of bringing an identity together in a stable image; each area seems to follow a different rhythm, yet they continue to form a recognisable presence. The violence of the marks coexists with the persistence of that human connection.
Fred Hoffman interprets this head as alive and responsive to stimuli, with the organs of perception connecting the outside world and thought. The association with a skull therefore coexists with a reading centred on consciousness and the activity of being alive.The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
The Broad invites viewers to look at the head as a map of the mind and raises the possibility of a self-portrait without treating it as established. This reading connects the exposed anatomy with the search for an identity that remains difficult to decipher.The Broad
Basquiat became interested in anatomy as a child, when his mother brought him a copy of Gray’s Anatomy while he was recovering from an accident. That curiosity about the body runs through a work that predates his first solo exhibition in New York, held at Annina Nosei Gallery between March and April 1982. Eli and Edythe Broad acquired the original in 1982.Christie’s Museum of Fine Arts Boston The Broad
