U2’s Jean-Michel Basquiat work on Sotheby’s block for $17.7M

June 16th, 2008

Untitled (Pecho/Oreja), Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1983 via artdaily

The band U2 is projected to receive up to 6 million pounds ($17.7 million) for the sale of a painting done by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The painting, Untitled (Pecho/Oreja), was acquired by U2 at the Robert Miller Gallery in New York in 1989, and has been hanging up in their Dublin studio for almost 20 years. The painting goes up for sale at Sotheby’s on July 1st.

U2’s Basquiat Painting May Fetch 6 Million Pounds at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]
U2 selling Basquiat masterpiece [BBC]
Sotheby’s to Offer Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) by Jean-Michel Basquiat on Behalf of the Members of U2 [artdaily]

Sotheby’s assistant holds Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) via New York Observer

Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) was made in 1983 when Basquiat was met with substantial success. This painting depicts his primitive style and one of his stylized mask-like heads.

“It seems especially appropriate that a work by Basquiat should end up in a music studio, since so much has been said about the relationship between his art and music,” said Oliver Barker, of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department. (BBC)

Untitled (Skull), Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1981 via art-pedia

Basquiat got his start in the 1970s as a graffiti artist in New York. Throughout his short career as an artist, he came to embody the youth culture of the 80’s, while addressing issues surrounding the African Diaspora.

Jean-Michel Basquiat in his studio, 1985 via Brooklyn Museum, Lizzie Himmel

In the early 1980’s he befriended and collaborated with Andy Warhol. Jean-Michel Basquiat died in 1988 of a drug overdose.

Untitled, Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981 via askart