Olympic
Olympic
Unsigned Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat
£12,000-£18,000Value Indicator
$25,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
$22,000-$35,000 Value Indicator
¥120,000-¥170,000 Value Indicator
€14,000-€21,000 Value Indicator
$130,000-$190,000 Value Indicator
¥2,350,000-¥3,520,000 Value Indicator
$16,000-$24,000 Value Indicator
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56 x 76cm, Edition of 50, Screenprint
Medium: Screenprint
Edition size: 50
Year: 2017
Size: H 56cm x W 76cm
Signed: No
Format: Unsigned Print
Last Auction: June 2021
Value Trend:
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Meaning & Analysis
Olympic is a screen print in colours from 1982 by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sporting greatness is a constantly revisited theme in the Basquiat oeuvre, present in works such as Boxer Rebellion, Cassius Clay and St. Joe Louis Surrounded by Snakes, yet most of the elements within Olympic appear unrelated to the sporting theme of its title. As a whole, the work points to the erasure and stereotyping of Black identities in American society.
A sinister canine figure lurks at the top right of the image, humanised with a bowler hat, next to text reading ‘Walt Disney’, suggestive of the Hollywood thematics of works such as Hollywood Africans. References to soap abound, as well as drawings of soap bars which brush up against references to cockroaches, suggesting a conflict between a restless underworld and a conflicting, decontaminating force.
Various layers of paint in contrasting tones compete against each other, indicating a canvas that was reworked over time. A singular ‘S’ is repeated across the image in an upturned triangle, most likely a reference to SAMO, the graffiti duo to which Basquiat belonged before his move into the gallery world.
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.
