Cabeza
Cabeza
Unsigned Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat
£28,000-£40,000Value Indicator
$60,000-$80,000 Value Indicator
$50,000-$70,000 Value Indicator
¥270,000-¥390,000 Value Indicator
€35,000-€45,000 Value Indicator
$300,000-$420,000 Value Indicator
¥5,480,000-¥7,820,000 Value Indicator
$40,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
139 x 101cm, Edition of 85, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 85
Year: 2004
Size: H 139cm x W 101cm
Signed: No
Format: Unsigned Print
Last Auction: April 2024
Value Trend:
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
TradingFloor
Auction Results
Track auction value trend
Meaning & Analysis
Cabeza is a screen print in colours produced in 2004 by Jean-Michel Basquiat. This print depicts a portrait of a single figure against a vibrant yellow-orange backdrop. As in other pieces depicting bodies and faces, such as Head, there is a simultaneous depiction of the internal and external body, with a rib cage and an ambiguous organ drawn in white lines. A word of unknown meaning - Aopkhes - is written across the figure’s chest. A circle drawn onto the figure’s neck suggests an Adam's apple. As in many of Basquiat’s portraits, the figure bears a startled or shocked facial expression.
In its title, Cabeza recalls the iconic Dos Cabezas, a painting by the artist that depicts Basquiat alongside Andy Warhol. The piece can be seen as emblematic of the close working relationship and friendship which the two artists cultivated in the early 80s. It proved beneficial for Basquiat to be connected to such a highly-regarded figure in the New York art scene, yet the working friendship was not one-sided commercially, as Warhol also benefited from association with the up-and-coming neo-expressionist as his pop art prints and paintings everyday items began to lose favour with the art-buying audience.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's unique visual style has dominated the Urban Art scene, securing his status as one of the most successful African-American street artists of the 20th Century. Addressing themes of race, identity and culture within his expressive works, his distinctive painterly style and use of child-like iconography changed the course of art history forever. Artworks such as Undiscovered Genius place controversial subjects at the forefront of his narrative. Despite his tragically premature death at the age of 27, Basquiat's impact on the art scene is exemplified through the increase of his market value in the years since.
