Nonconformist American artist, Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was an unorthodox painter. He began his career as a graffiti artist on the streets of New York to eventually emerge as a major figure in the ‘neo-expressionist’ art scene. He animates and inanimates in rather violent representations, with a brutal emotional force, characterizing ‘Neo-expressionism’. In keeping with this, outrageous color schemes and grotesque expressions were also an integral part of Basquiat’s works. In 1981, the artist devised his first major work, “Untitled Head”, which also became one of his most select paintings.
“Untitled Skull” is a mixed media, acrylic on canvas work set in an 81″ X 69.3″ frame. It features a human head, which looks more like a skull, held in place with the help of numerous points. The head is shown broken in several places, the teeth, near the left eye, and towards the back of the skull. “Untitled Head” does not follow a uniform tone for the skin or the bones. Rather, it suits a gloomy pattern in raw colors, as if indicating rot and decay. These features give it a ‘Folk Art’ or ‘Tribal Art’ appearance. The most notable aspect of “Untitled Skull” is the eyes, which gaze down at the ground, capturing the desperation of the ‘head’ with great finesse. The very combination of sad eyes and broken teeth is capable of signifying a mix of sadness and fear, this piece aims to convey.
The background of “Untitled Head” is an abstraction in blue, orange, red and white. This ‘Skeleton Art’ piece is a classic example of Jean’s frenetic pace, spontaneity and experimental style. Due to his involvement in graffiti early in his career, Jean Michel had developed a sense of urgent execution (to avoid being caught by the police), which also crept into his “Untitled Head”. It is also a matter of debate whether so many of Basquiat’s works suffer from an identity crisis by not having any titles. Looking closely at “Untitled Skull,” an interesting fact emerges. Near the top of the canvas some words are scrawled in bold reading ‘Head of’ and the name that followed these words was noted down later. This becomes even more intriguing in light of the belief that most of these ‘heads’ were self-portraits by Jean Michel. It seems that from his interpretation, he himself was not comfortable with the idea of identifying with them.
Despite its ‘shocking’ appeal and unnerving impression, “Untitled Head”, like most of Basquiat’s other works, had phenomenal commercial value, fetching a staggering $19,000 in 1984, just two years later. that its starting price was quoted at $4,000.