u/RevaCruz

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and paper collage on three joined canvases
Dimensions: Overall: 78 × 63 in. (198.1 × 160 cm.)

Executed across three joined canvases, this large-scale 1982 work showcases Basquiat's layered visual language through text, anatomy, symbols, collage, and expressive line.

References to the human figure, religious imagery, and handwritten phrases unfold across distinct vertical panels, reflecting the artist's ability to merge painting, drawing, and found materials into a single dynamic composition.

Medium: Oilstick on paper mounted on linen
Dimensions: 43 × 30¾ in. (109.2 × 78.1 cm.)

One of Basquiat's most compelling early heads, this work distills the human figure to its emotional core. Built with urgent oilstick lines and a restrained palette of blue, black, red, and white, the portrait conveys both vulnerability and intensity. The oversized eyes, exposed teeth, and layered marks reflect Basquiat's ongoing fascination with identity, anatomy, and the expressive power of the human face.

Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 65¾ × 59⅞ in. (167 × 149.8 cm.)

Painted in 1984, Pre-Agrav is a powerful example of Basquiat's ability to distill emotion into a single commanding figure.

Thick black contours, bold reds, and vivid yellow lines frame a mask-like face that appears both confrontational and vulnerable.

The title, Pre-Agrav, remains enigmatic, inviting multiple interpretations while reinforcing Basquiat's fascination with language, identity, and expression.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and mixed media on canvas.

Painted during one of Basquiat's most celebrated periods, Untitled (Solanamum) layers anatomy, masks, symbols, handwritten text, and expressive color into a composition that feels both chaotic and deliberate.

The central crowned faces and fragmented imagery reflect Basquiat's fascination with identity, history, language, and power.

The second image shows Basquiat posing with the painting in his studio, offering a rare glimpse of the artist alongside the unfinished work.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on canvas
Dimensions: 78 1/8 × 72 in. (199.5 × 182.9 cm.)

One of Basquiat's iconic early paintings, Untitled (1981) combines expressive anatomy, bold gestural marks, and his unmistakable visual language into a powerful portrait.

The skeletal figure, with both hands raised, radiates urgency and emotion, while layers of color, symbols, and energetic linework reveal the raw intensity that defined Basquiat's breakthrough period.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on wood panel
Dimensions: 72 × 48 in. (182.8 × 121.9 cm)

Painted during Basquiat's landmark year of 1982, this untitled work features one of his most iconic motifs, a crowned skeletal figure holding a bone.

Executed in acrylic and oilstick on a wood panel, the painting combines expressive linework, layered color, and symbols of power, mortality, and identity.

The bold composition reflects Basquiat's ability to merge street art energy with historical and cultural references, creating an image that remains both immediate and open to interpretation.

Medium: Acrylic, spray paint, oilstick, and Xerox collage on panel
Dimensions: 182.9 × 121.9 cm (72 × 48 in.)

Painted during Basquiat's breakthrough year, Untitled (One Eyed Man or Xerox Face) combines acrylic, spray paint, oilstick, and Xerox collage to create a striking layered composition. A fragmented central figure emerges through bold black lines, vivid blocks of red, blue, yellow, and white, while the collaged face hints at Basquiat's fascination with identity, memory, and reproduction.

The work exemplifies his ability to merge painting, drawing, and found imagery into a powerful visual language that continues to invite multiple interpretations.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas Dimensions: 183 × 213.5 cm (72 × 84 in.)

Created during Basquiat's breakthrough year, Agony of the Feet combines bold color, expressive linework, and anatomical symbolism into a powerful composition.

The title draws attention to the body, while the painting's fragmented forms, skeletal imagery, and layered marks reflect Basquiat's fascination with the human condition, history, and identity.

As with many of his 1982 works, it invites viewers to interpret its symbols rather than offering a single narrative.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on linen

Dimensions: 254 × 289.5 cm (100 × 114 in.)

Painted during the final year of Basquiat's life, The Dingoes That Park Their Brains with Their Gum pairs a striking blue background with sparse, symbolic figures and fragments of text.

The painting balances humor, unease, and mystery, inviting viewers to search for meaning rather than offering easy answers.

Like much of Basquiat's late work, it reflects his continued fascination with language, identity, and the tension between playfulness and mortality.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and pastel on canvas Dimensions: 183 × 122 cm (72 × 48 in.)

A horned black animal stands prominently beneath a red star and beside one of his iconic crowns, while a large anatomical bone anchors the lower half of the composition.

The title, referring to a cut of meat, reinforces Basquiat's recurring interest in anatomy, the body, and mortality.

Combining expressive linework, earthy colors, and symbolic imagery, the painting blends references to power, sacrifice, and identity into a composition that feels both primitive and deeply contemporary.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick and collage on paper Dimensions: 218.5 × 172.5 cm (86 × 68 in.)

Pharynx (1985) presents a skeletal figure surrounded by anatomical references, expressive linework, and fragmented text. The title points to the throat, fitting Basquiat's recurring fascination with the human body and medical imagery.

Words such as "BLOOD," "FECES," "URINE," and "BILE" evoke bodily systems while transforming clinical language into visual symbols. Bold black contours, vivid blue, yellow, and red accents, and layered collage elements create a composition that feels both raw and intellectually charged, blending anatomy, identity, and expression into one of Basquiat's characteristic visual languages.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas Dimensions: 247.5 × 178 cm (97½ × 70 in.)

Created during the final years of his career, this untitled work combines many of Basquiat's recurring themes: skeletal heads, anatomical references, symbolic figures, and layered mark-making.

The composition moves between chaos and structure, with faces, text, and imagery competing for attention while remaining connected through Basquiat's distinctive visual language.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, oil, and silkscreen ink on canvas Dimensions: 218.4 × 172.7 cm

Created during the celebrated Basquiat–Warhol collaboration period, GE combines corporate imagery, handwritten symbols, fragmented faces, and a central black figure that reflects the distinct visual languages of both artists.

The work highlights the creative tension between Warhol's fascination with commercial culture and Basquiat's expressive, street-inspired approach, resulting in a composition that feels both structured and spontaneous.

Medium: Mixed media on canvas, Dimensions: 306 × 206 cm

Created during the legendary collaboration between Basquiat, Warhol, and Clemente, Handball combines advertising imagery, fragmented figures, handwritten text, and street-inspired symbolism into a layered composition that reflects the energy of 1980s New York.

The work merges the distinct visual languages of all three artists while capturing the collision of art, commerce, and urban culture that defined the era.

Medium: Mixed media on canvas Dimensions: 122 × 167.5 cm (48 × 66 in) Collection: Würth Collection

Created in 1984, Ex-Ringeye is a rare collaborative work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Andy Warhol. Produced during a brief but highly influential period of artistic exchange between the three artists, the painting combines their distinct visual languages into a single composition.

The work juxtaposes anatomical references, handwritten text, botanical forms, and expressive figuration. On the left, a diagram-like figure accompanied by a list of industrial materials recalls Basquiat's fascination with language, science, and classification. At the center stands a stylized human figure, while the surrounding forms reflect the layered contributions of all three artists.

These collaborations challenged traditional ideas of authorship, with each artist responding directly to the others' marks on the canvas. The result is neither purely Basquiat, Warhol, nor Clemente, but a visual conversation between three of the most influential artists of the 1980s.

Medium: Oilstick on paper Dimensions: 53 × 49.5 cm (20.9 × 19.5 in) Collection: Private collection, London

Created in 1984, Untitled demonstrates Jean-Michel Basquiat's ability to build complex imagery from a few seemingly simple lines. Rendered in oilstick on paper, the drawing presents a fragmented head composed of overlapping facial features, mechanical forms, and abstract symbols.

Throughout his career, Basquiat returned repeatedly to the human head as a subject, using it as a space where anatomy, technology, memory, and identity could intersect. Here, the face appears both human and machine-like, with eyes, teeth, and geometric forms layered into a single structure.

The economy of line is striking. With minimal marks, Basquiat creates a work that feels spontaneous yet carefully constructed, reflecting his fascination with the connections between the body, language, science, and symbolism.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas. Dimensions: 120 × 120 cm

Created in 1983, Untitled (Pakiderm) is a collaborative work by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Cora Bischofberger.

The composition combines Basquiat's iconic visual language, crowns, masks, handwritten text, and expressive figures, with playful imagery centered around a stylized elephant.

The title references the word "pachyderm," a term historically used for elephants and other thick-skinned animals. Throughout the painting, layers of symbols, childlike drawings, and fragmented words create the sense of a shared visual conversation between the two artists.

Unlike many of Basquiat's more confrontational works, Untitled (Pakiderm) carries a vibrant, almost playful energy while still reflecting his fascination with symbolism, identity, and storytelling through image and text.

Medium: Acrylic on canvas Dimensions: 101.6 × 86.4 cm

Francesco Clemente was a fellow artist and friend of Basquiat. Painted in 1982, this portrait captures Basquiat's ability to distill a subject into expressive lines, raw brushwork, and psychological intensity.

Even with a limited palette, the work feels immediate and deeply personal.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and paper collage on canvas Dimensions: 182.9 × 152.4 cm. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Portrait of Michael Chow (1985)

Michael Chow, founder of the famous Mr Chow restaurants, was a close friend of Basquiat and many artists in New York's 1980s art scene. This portrait combines Basquiat's expressive figure work with references to science, geometry, language, and Chinese culture.

Chow later recalled that Basquiat and Keith Haring were regular presences at Mr Chow, helping turn the restaurant into a gathering place for artists, musicians, and creatives during a defining era of New York culture.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and wax crayon on canvas Dimension: 182.9 × 182.9 cm.

Dominated by a large black figure and a striking red-and-white mouth, Untitled (Wax) is one of Basquiat's most powerful explorations of identity, expression, and symbolism.

The work has been compared to the haunting portrait traditions of Francis Bacon, while remaining unmistakably Basquiat in its energy and visual language.