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Medium: Acrylic and oil paintstick on paper
Dimensions: 30 × 22¼ in. (75 × 56.5 cm)

In Untitled (Scales of Justice), Basquiat constructs a large central figure from overlapping layers of color and rapidly drawn lines. The head dominates the composition, with enlarged dark eyes, exposed teeth, and a grid-like form extending across the top of the skull.

To the left of the figure, Basquiat draws a pair of scales, while arrows and other diagrammatic marks appear throughout the surrounding space. The body contains additional numbers, symbols, and repeated linear patterns, combining anatomical, mechanical, and symbolic elements within a single figure.

The work belongs to a group of drawings centered on the human head that Basquiat largely kept to himself during his lifetime. It was later included in Acquavella Galleries' 2014 exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat Drawing: Work from the Schorr Family Collection.

Medium: Acrylic and oil stick on canvas

Dimensions: 185.9 × 137 × 4 cm (73¼ × 53⅞ × 1⅝ in.)

In Moses and the Egyptians, Basquiat transforms the biblical story of Exodus into a dense field of text, symbols and imagery. A profile of Moses appears near the center of the composition, surrounded by the enormous magenta tablets, while his name is repeated several times across the surface.

References to the story of Exodus appear directly in Basquiat's writing: “STAFF INTO SERPENT TRICK,” “WATER INTO BLOOD,” “FLIES,” “FROGS,” and the misspelled “TEN PLAUGES.” These refer to the signs and plagues preceding the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao interprets Basquiat's use of the biblical narrative as addressing social injustice, drawing a parallel between the liberation of an oppressed people and contemporary questions of inequality, racism and identity. The painting is part of the museum's permanent collection, donated by Bruno Bischofberger of Zurich.

Medium: Oilstick on paper
Dimensions: 16 × 13½ in. (40.6 × 34.3 cm)

In this Untitled work from 1982, Basquiat concentrates almost the entire composition on a single head rendered in red oilstick. Heavy black lines define the eyes, nose, exposed teeth, and jagged contours of the face, while touches of yellow and blue break through the dominant red.

Sotheby's identifies the drawing as one of a group of fifteen intensely worked portrayals of the human head that Basquiat created in 1982. The head and skull became recurring subjects throughout his work, allowing him to move between the appearance of the face and the anatomical structures beneath it.

The drawing was included in the 1990 exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat Drawings at Robert Miller Gallery in New York. Interestingly, later literature records that an installation photograph from that exhibition reproduced the work in an incorrect orientation

Medium: Graphite, acrylic, and paper collage on paper
Dimensions; 29⅞ × 22¼ in. (75.9 × 56.5 cm)

In Leverage, Basquiat builds the composition from overlapping sheets, drawings, words, and diagrams, while a large black head with a single white eye dominates the right side. Smaller sections contain a satellite, mechanical diagrams, a horned mask-like figure, animals, and fragments of text in several languages.

The title itself appears within the work alongside words including “SATELLITE,” “LEVERAGE,” “BEDBUGS,” “WORMS,” and “BATS.” Basquiat also repeatedly uses copyright and registered trademark symbols throughout the composition. Sotheby's connects these marks to Basquiat's recurring interest in ideas of authorship, ownership, and cultural power.

Sotheby's also draws attention to Basquiat's mixture of English, Spanish, and French in the work and interprets the horned, mask-like figure at the top as part of his engagement with African imagery and its appropriation within Western modernism

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions: 116⅞ × 264⅞ in. (297 × 673 cm)

At nearly 22 feet wide, Zenith is a collaboration between Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. The composition stretches across the canvas in distinct but overlapping passages: a large brown figure and white animal occupy the left side, while oversized typography, figures, a pale green automobile, and a massive skull-and-crossbones dominate the center and right.

The painting demonstrates the visual exchange that characterized Basquiat and Warhol's collaborations. Warhol's bold graphic forms and advertising-like imagery collide with Basquiat's hand-painted figures, anatomical imagery, marks and alterations, allowing the individual visual languages of both artists to remain visible within the same composition.

Phillips describes their collaborative paintings as initially misunderstood by contemporary critics but later recognized as an important meeting of Pop and Neo-Expressionist approaches.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and Xerox collage on canvas
Dimensions: 188 × 213 cm (74 × 83⅞ in.)

In Harlem Paper Product, Basquiat divides the canvas into two distinct areas against a broad green field. At left, a black figure is drawn over layers of Xerox collage filled with diagrams, figures, and fragments of imagery. At right, a larger and more densely painted section combines figures, diagrams, blocks of color, and handwritten words beneath the title “HARLEM PAPER PRODUCTS.”

Language runs throughout the composition, with words including “EQUATOR,” “HORIZON,” “TESLA COIL,” “GLASS EYE,” “EAR WAX,” and “LUCHALIBRE.” Several of these terms are repeated again along the lower edge, while diagrams and arrows give portions of the painting the appearance of a scientific or instructional chart.

Executed in 1987, the work brings together several recurring elements of Basquiat's visual vocabulary, Xerox collage, anatomical and diagrammatic imagery, repeated language, figures, and references drawn from seemingly unrelated sources, within a single large-scale composition.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and marker on fibreboard
Dimensions: 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm)

In this Untitled work from 1983, Basquiat places an anatomical figure across the fibreboard, concentrating attention on an enlarged head rendered partly as face and partly as exposed anatomy. Hollow eyes, exposed teeth, and internal structures are surrounded by handwritten labels and directional marks, while the torso is identified prominently with the Spanish word “PECHO” (“chest”).

Language becomes part of the anatomy itself. “INTESTINES” is repeated down the left side, while Basquiat moves between English and Spanish with labels including “LIVER,” “BUM EAR,” and “OREJA” ("ear"). Sotheby's connects this combination of anatomical imagery and bilingual language with Basquiat's longstanding fascination with the human body and his childhood exposure to Gray's Anatomy.

Medium: Acrylic, oilstick, and colored Xerox collage on canvas
Dimensions: 40½ × 79⅛ in. (103 × 201 cm)

Across a predominantly blue field, Basquiat combines painted architectural forms, diagram-like drawings, and colored Xerox collage. A tall building dominates the left side of the canvas, while repeated fragments, including birds, skeletal figures, heads, and blocks of text, are scattered throughout the composition.

On the right, a large looping skeletal or anatomical form stretches beneath overlapping Xerox fragments and painted lines. Words and phrases appear throughout the work alongside recognizable Basquiat motifs, while repeated collage elements allow individual images to reappear across the canvas.

Executed in 1983, Justcome Suit came through both Mary Boone Gallery in New York and Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich. The work is also documented in Richard D. Marshall and Jean-Louis Prat's catalog of Basquiat's work.

Medium: Acrylic, gold paint, and oilstick on canvas, mounted on wooden supports
Dimensions: 60 × 60 in. (152.5 × 152.5 cm)

Against a muted field of beige, pink, gray, and metallic gold, Basquiat centers a single black-and-white head surrounded by sparse, energetic lines. The word BRONZE appears prominently beneath the figure, while the exposed wooden supports become part of the work itself. Sotheby's notes that the gold's metallic quality is more pronounced in person than photographs can convey.

Sotheby's connects the central face to Basquiat's engagement with West African masks and figures, specifically citing visual parallels with Fang, Songye, and Senufo traditions. The catalog also discusses his relationship with scholar Robert Farris Thompson and places Bronze within Basquiat's broader interest in African cultural and artistic traditions.

Sotheby's also interprets the use of gold and the title Bronze through ideas of value and transformation that were appearing in Basquiat's work during 1982. The painting was completed in October of that year, during the extraordinary period in which Basquiat was rapidly gaining international recognition.

Medium: Watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, and crayon on paper
Dimensions: 13⅜ × 10¾ in. (34 × 27.3 cm)

In this small work on paper, Basquiat packs a dense collection of anatomical imagery, words, numbers, and symbols into a brightly colored composition. A crowned figure occupies the center, with a blue face, yellow eyes, and an exposed skeletal torso. Above and around it appear anatomical forms, including a large skull and references to the “HEART,” “LIVER,” and “STOMACH.”

Across the upper portion, Basquiat writes “EMPLOYEE SCREENING™” and “DESIRE 3446,” while the word “DESIRE” followed by different numbers is repeated along the right side. Elsewhere, words including “PHYSIOLOGICAL,” “ELEPHANT,” “ZULUCUP,” and “COCONUT” are embedded among drawings, numbers, and overlapping areas of watercolor.

Sotheby's does not provide an interpretation of these individual words or images, leaving their relationships within the composition open. The work's provenance traces to Shenge Ka Pharaoh, New York, who acquired it directly from Basquiat, before it later entered the collection offered at Sotheby's in 2022.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas
Dimensions: 218.4 × 248.9 cm (86 × 98 in.)

Against a largely white ground, Basquiat assembles a sparse group of figures, symbols, and lines. At the center is an animal-like figure resembling an elephant, with the words “SCALO MERCI” written across its body and a long segmented trunk extending toward the right. Above it, two overlapping heads, one yellow and one reddish brown, face in opposite directions.

“Scalo merci” is Italian for “freight yard” or “freight terminal.” Sotheby's suggests Basquiat may have encountered the phrase while traveling through Italian railway stations; he exhibited in Modena, Italy, in 1981 and 1982.

Around the central group, Basquiat leaves much of the canvas open, punctuating the white ground with sparse lines and areas of yellow, red, brown, and blue. A single red line runs horizontally beneath the figures, emphasizing the openness of the composition.

Medium: Acrylic, oil stick and Xerox collage on canvas
Dimensions: 172.5 × 218.6 cm (67.9 × 86 in.)

Against a predominantly white ground, Basquiat places two large heads at opposite sides of the canvas. On the left is a black figure with bared teeth, radiating lines, and orange-yellow accents; on the right, a white-outlined skull-like face appears against a dark brown field. Between and around them are diagrams, symbols, painted lines, and fragments of Xerox collage.

Many of the Xeroxed elements originated in an Untitled drawing from 1983 that became an important source for Basquiat. According to Sotheby's, he reused elements from that drawing in at least 22 works between 1983 and 1987. In Apex, these include fragments featuring a colorful dragon and a silhouetted driver from a wind-up toy; Sotheby's also suggests that the word “WIND” at the lower right may refer to the toy's wind-up mechanism.

Sotheby's further notes that several symbols in the painting derive from Henry Dreyfuss's Symbol Sourcebook, particularly signs historically used by hobos to communicate warnings and information. Apex brings these borrowed signs, anatomical imagery, words, Xerox fragments, and painted figures together into the layered visual vocabulary that characterized Basquiat's later work.

Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 180 × 260.5 cm (70.9 × 102.6 in.)

In this large Self-Portrait, Basquiat places an elongated black figure across the center of the canvas, its arms stretched outward and its oversized red-and-black head surrounded by radiating, almost electrified lines. Around it, loosely painted forms, dripping color, and isolated faces emerge against a predominantly pale background.

MACBA describes self-portraiture as a recurring element in Basquiat's work and interprets this painting as presenting a fragmented and multiple reality. The museum draws particular attention to the contrast between the relatively soft, pastel background and the central figure's dark body, enlarged head, exposed teeth, and radiating hair.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 120.5 × 102 cm (47.4 × 40.2 in.)

At the center of Sterno, Basquiat places a dark bottle labeled “GIN” alongside a can labeled “DRINK STERNO.” Sterno, sometimes known as “canned heat,” is an alcohol-based fuel intended for heating food that also became notorious for being consumed as a dangerous substitute for alcoholic beverages.

In the foreground, a horned creature with glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and a second open mouth breathes fire across the canvas. Red arrows, dripping marks, and the predominantly black, white, and reddish palette intensify the threatening atmosphere surrounding the bottle and can.

MACBA interprets Sterno as an aggressive and apocalyptic vision of alcohol abuse, connecting the gin bottle, the instruction to “Drink Sterno,” and the monstrous figure to the dangers of consuming alcohol and alcohol substitutes.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas
Dimwnsions: 66¼ × 60⅛ in. (168.3 × 152.8 cm)

Big Snow pays tribute to Jesse Owens, whose name and “BERLIN–1936” appear prominently beside the dark mask-like head near the upper center of the canvas. Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany, and the five Olympic rings appear at upper left. Sotheby's places the work among Basquiat's recurring portrayals of celebrated Black athletes and sporting figures.

The painting brings together several moments and figures from sporting history. At lower left, Basquiat references heavyweight boxing champion Jersey Joe Walcott, while an intricately drawn and annotated foot recalls the artist's continuing interest in anatomy. A sweeping green line moves across the largely white canvas, connecting otherwise separated images, words, and painted forms.

Sotheby's also connects the painting's snowy white ground to Basquiat's 1983 visit to St. Moritz, where the surrounding Alps inspired several works. The Olympic imagery simultaneously recalls the 1936 Berlin Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, held the same year Big Snow was painted

Medium: Acrylic, oil, oil stick, and marker on found paper on canvas and wood, with rope
Dimensions: 86¾ × 66 5/16 in. (220.3 × 168.4 cm)

Painted following Basquiat's visit to Italy, LNAPRK takes its title from Luna Park, an amusement park outside Milan. The Whitney notes that the name also recalls the early-twentieth-century Luna Park at Coney Island and has been used by amusement parks worldwide.

Across the densely layered surface, Basquiat combines figures, words, animals, numbers, and symbols. In the upper portion, a horned animal appears with the word “VACA”, Spanish for “cow”, written across its body, while “ITALY IN THE 1500'S” stretches across the top. The Whitney suggests that this inscription may refer to the Italian Renaissance and could have originated in one of the history or art-history books Basquiat frequently used as sources.

The construction itself is also part of the work: found paper, canvas, and wood are held within exposed crossbars secured with twine. Basquiat's familiar crown appears near the lower right, among the many images and fragments of language that fill the composition.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas
Dimensions: 60¼ × 60¼ in. (153 × 153 cm)

Against an intense red field, Basquiat depicts a large, that resemble horned, skull-like head emerging above the lines of what resembles a boxing ring. The stark white, black, and red palette gives the composition an especially immediate and confrontational presence.

Sotheby's connects Cabra to Muhammad Ali's 1970 fight against Argentine heavyweight Oscar “The Bull” Bonavena. Ali knocked Bonavena down three times in the fifteenth round before the fight was stopped. Sotheby's places the painting among Basquiat's early works, referencing Black boxers and athletes, including Ali, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jersey Joe Walcott, and Jack Johnson.

Cabra was originally in the collection of Tony Shafrazi and appeared in his influential 1983 Champions exhibition. Yoko Ono acquired the painting in 1993 and kept it for more than two decades before offering it at Sotheby's in 2017.

(Cabra is Spanish for ‘goat’ or GOAT)

Medium: Oil, acrylic, collage, and wax on canvas
Dimensions: 85¾ × 98 in. (217.8 × 248.9 cm)

Bayou spreads Basquiat's imagery across a large, predominantly white field, combining painted passages, collage, words, numbers, diagrams, and fragmented figures. On the right, a multiplication table shares the canvas with references including “AMPERE,” “WASTEWATER,” “LIGHT,” and the repeatedly written and crossed-out word “SOUTH.”

Rather than organizing the work around a single dominant figure, Basquiat creates distinct areas of information connected by long lines running across the canvas. Hands and partial bodies emerge from the painted and collaged surface, while mathematical symbols, measurements, and diagram-like forms give portions of the work the appearance of a working notebook or blackboard.

The work is now in the collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem, a gift of Joseph and Amy Perella in honor of Raymond J. McGuire.

Medium: Acrylic and oilstick on canvas
Dimensions: 78 × 80 in. (198.1 × 203.2 cm.)

Against a vivid yellow field, Basquiat surrounds a large blue head with fragments of language drawn from food labeling and ingredient lists. Words including “THIAMINE MONONITRATE,” “RIBOFLAVIN,” “ENRICHED FLOUR,” “SNAKE,” and “SERPENT” appear throughout the composition, alongside the repeated phrase “ONION GUM MAKES YOUR MOUTH TASTE LIKE ONIONS.”

At the center, a small crowned figure stands above the larger head holding two snakes, while “MADE IN JAPAN” appears prominently at upper right. Basquiat had first visited Japan in 1982 and increasingly incorporated Japanese references into his work; Onion Gum later helped provide the title for the 2019 exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat: Made in Japan in Tokyo.

The combination of commercial language, deliberately altered words, anatomy, and repeated symbols turns the canvas into something resembling an oversized, thoroughly scrambled product label, one in which Basquiat's humor is every bit as noticeable as the imagery.

Medium: Acrylic, marker, paper collage, oil, paintstick, and crayon on canvas
Dimensions: 48½ × 62 in. (123 × 157.5 cm.)

In this early Untitled work, Basquiat builds a dense field of painted and collaged imagery across the canvas. Crowns, heads, figures, grids, numbers, and diagram-like forms overlap against broad areas of blue, green, yellow, and white.

Rather than centering the composition around a single figure, Basquiat distributes imagery across the entire surface. Three crown forms appear through the center, while faces and fragmented figures emerge from layers of marks, pasted paper, and partially obscured imagery.

The painting belongs to the collection of Herbert and Lenore Schorr, who first encountered Basquiat's work in 1981 at Annina Nosei Gallery. The Schorrs became early collectors of his work and eventually close friends with the artist.