On October 4, 1982, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat were formally introduced by art dealer Bruno Bischofberger at a lunch in New York, the beginning of an enduring friendship and artistic partnership. Warhol, then aged 54, was the world famous patriarch of Pop Art, while 21-year-old Basquiat was the rising wunderkind of the New York street art scene.
After that meeting, Bischofberger suggested a mail art project between the two and Italian artist Francesco Clemente whereby they would send unfinished canvases to each other and add to them. Later, Warhol and Basquiat exclusively collaborated on a series of artworks that merged both artists' signature styles: Warhol's screenprints and Basquiat's expressionist figures and text. The two combined their unique artistic voices in over 100 paintings, creating a body of work that still intrigues today. In fact, last year's Fondation Louis Vuitton exhibit examined this collaboration in depth with the 'Basquiat x Warhol: Painting Four Hands' retrospective. Now, one of the works on view at that exhibit is going up for auction this May at Sotheby's.
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Untitled from 1984 is one of the largest paintings that the two artists worked together on, measuring 10 by 13 feet. Warhol worked on the painting first, contributing images of sports equipment like baseball mitts, tennis rackets, sneakers and logos. Basquiat then added his signature scrawled figure heads, words and colorful squiggles. As Basquiat said of their collaboration, "Andy would start one and put something very recognizable on it, or a product logo, and I would sort of deface it."
The Warhol and Basquiat collaboration was first publicly revealed at an exhibit at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1985 to mostly negative reviews. The two artists remained friends, though they did not collaborate professionally again. Warhol died just two years later in 1987 and Basquiat in 1988.
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"Of all the Warhol-Basquiat works from this brief and fertile moment, Untitled stands out as one of the supreme examples, fully showcasing the range of their artistic powers," said Lucius Elliott, Sotheby's Head of Contemporary Marquee Auctions in New York. "The painting is a masterpiece of juxtaposition and contradiction: the cool, mechanical restraint of Warhol’s imagery, overlaid with Basquiat’s anarchic energy and freewheeling technique. Warhol and Basquiat perform a call and response throughout the painting, riffing and improvising off one another’s work to create a radical, harmonious symphony of color, imagery and form."
The painting is a unique fusion of the visions of two of art history's most recognized artists, bringing together Warhol's decades-long formation of Pop Art and Basquiat's emerging Neo-Expressionist style. Both a testament to their friendship and artistic admiration of each other, Untitled bridges their definitive oeuvres during a period of intense collaboration, tragically near the end of both of their lives.
"Nearly 40 years later, the collaborative works are now, rightfully, seen as a landmark and an integral part of both artists’ bodies of work, synthesizing their contrasting styles and visions with total iconoclasm," said Grégoire Billault, Sotheby's Chairman of Contemporary Art. "The series showcases not only the distinctive genius of two singular artists, but also an entirely new artistic voice created in a momentary flash that would never again be replicated."
Untitled goes to auction at Sotheby's in May as part of their Contemporary Evening Auction and is estimated to fetch around $18 million. Basquiat-Warhol pieces have come up for auction before: in 2014, Zenith sold for $11.3 million at Phillips, setting the current record.
