r/Basquiat

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: 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: 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