Untitled (1982)
Acrylic, oil paintstick on canvas mounted on tied wood supports by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982 (as specified). Skull/head motif with text fragments and crown symbol. Sold at Sotheby's New York on 18 May 2017 for $110,487,500 — the world Basquiat auction record at the time. NOTE: This node requires disambiguation against artwork:basquiat-untitled-skull-1981, which records the same sale details. If confirmed as the same work, this node should be deprecated.
Scholarly Significance
Record the Sotheby's May 2017 world Basquiat auction record. NOTE: The existing node artwork:basquiat-untitled-skull-1981 records the same Sotheby's NY 18 May 2017 sale ($110,487,500, lot 8). This node is a stub pending disambiguation — if this work is confirmed identical to the Skull (1981), this node should be deprecated and all relations merged into artwork:basquiat-untitled-skull-1981. The task specification describes this as a distinct 1982 work with skull/head motif, text, and crown symbol; that description is also consistent with the Skull (1981). Requires authoritative lot-catalogue confirmation.
Notes
- ·The Sotheby's 18 May 2017 Contemporary Art Evening Auction lot 8 sold for $110,487,500. This sale is already recorded under artwork:basquiat-untitled-skull-1981 (1981). The present node was seeded from a task specification describing a distinct 1982 work with the same price, date, and house.
- ·Possible scenarios: (a) The Skull (1981) canvas has an incorrect production date in existing records and was actually made in 1982; (b) The present node is a duplicate of the Skull and should be deprecated; (c) There are two distinct works, and the 1982 work sold at a different Sotheby's auction not yet recorded.
- ·Resolution requires consulting the Sotheby's New York 18 May 2017 catalogue or Christie's/Sotheby's lot essay citing exact production year.