Untitled (Teeth)
Untitled (Teeth)
Unsigned Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Screen print in colours on Okawara paper. Numbered in an edition of 45. S. 88.3 x 76.2 cm (34 3/4 x 30in.)
Track this artwork in realtime
Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection.
Track auction value trend
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2014 | Bonhams San Francisco - United States | Untitled (Teeth) - Unsigned Print |
Meaning & Analysis
In Untitled (Teeth), free-floating sketches adorn the centre of the print. Teeth can be seen beside a skull as well as circles labelled as ‘plate seven’ and ‘plate nine’. Brown brushstrokes erratically embellish the top half of the print.
Skulls took a particularly prominent place in the artist’s work in the years preceding his death, as seen in works such as Riding With Death, which depicts a faceless figure atop a skeletal body. It would be wrong, however, to view depictions of skulls narrowly from the viewpoint of the artist’s death. As Leonard Emmerling notes, “Speculations about premonitions of death in his final paintings neatly ignore that death played a dominant role in Basquiat’s paintings and drawings from the very beginning of his career. His countless skeletons and skulls can hardly be passed off as formal citations of anatomy books… Basquiat’s countless depictions of skeletonized or transparent x-rayed bodies show that his own physicality and mortality were central issues of his work.”
