Jean-Michel Basquiat

Basquiat's printed matter occupies an unusual position: documents produced at the edge of a career that moved faster than the institutions trying to contain it. Invitations, catalogues, announcements — objects that were present at the moment of exhibition and have since become something else. Not souvenirs. Not relics. Partial survivals of a practice that was always already about surface, inscription, and the instability of authorship.

What is offered here are printed things that passed through that orbit. Each one carries the residue of a specific occasion — a gallery, a date, a context — while remaining open to another kind of attention.

  • East Village '85: A Guide. A Documentary, Roland Hagenberg et al., Pelham Press, New York, 1985. Front cover. Solid red ground. Cream outline illustration by Mark Kostabi: five schematic figures seated and standing around a table, two figures exchanging a rectangular object labelled '85'. Title in large cream block capitals: 'EASTVILLAGE'. Below in smaller type: 'Roland Hagenberg, Alan Jones, Michael Kohn, Carlo McCormick, Nicolas Moufarrege'. Lower centre: 'A guide. A documentary.' Publisher: Pelham Press. East Village '85: A Guide. A Documentary, Pelham Press, 1985. Condition detail: Basquiat and Madonna. Red softcover spine intact. Very good overall condition for a heavily used 1985 softcover.

    Roland Hagenberg et al. — East Village ’85: A Guide. A Documentary., New York: Pelham Press, 1985

    Roland Hagenberg et al. — East Village ’85: A Guide. A Documentary., New York: Pelham Press, 1985

  • JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled, 1981 / Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Paris Musées, 2010 JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled, 1981 / Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Paris Musées, 2010

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled, 1981 / Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Paris Musées, 2010

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled, 1981 / Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris / Paris Musées, 2010

  • Postcard recto, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Man from Naples, 1982, published by The Royal Academy, London / te Neues Verlag, 1993. Offset colour reproduction on white card, c. 10.8 × 15.2 cm. Horizontal diptych format — two-panel acrylic and collage on wood. Left panel: red cartoon dog/pig head with blue eye; dense handwritten text including 'VINI VICI VIDI', 'BIG PIG SANDWICHES', 'MERCANTIDI PROSCIUTTO', '$', crown motifs, scattered words. Right panel: red horizontal band upper edge; text including 'VINI VIDI VI Postcard verso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Man from Naples, 1982, published by The Royal Academy, London / te Neues Verlag, 1993. White ground, undivided back with light surface marks and minor handling wear. Lower left: small black serif text — 'Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960-1988). Man from Naples, 1982. Acrylic and collage on wood, 104 1/4" × 48 3/4" (265 × 124 cm). Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich. Photo: D. James Dee. © 1993 Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Published by the Royal Academy, London, te

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Man from Naples, 1982 / Royal Academy, London / te Neues, 1993

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Man from Naples, 1982 / Royal Academy, London / te Neues, 1993

  • Promotional card recto, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Boom for Real, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2017. Offset colour on card stock, 21 × 15 cm. Full-bleed photograph by Edo Bertoglio — Basquiat in grey American football helmet marked 'AARON' in white paint, red Adidas T-shirt, open dark plaid jacket; hand raised to helmet; graffiti-covered white wall behind. Left edge: large vertical white sans-serif 'barbican' logotype. Lower centre: bold white sans-serif — 'Basquiat / Boom / for Real / 21 Sep 2017—28 Jan 2018 / Promotional card verso, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Boom for Real, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2017. White ground. Bold black sans-serif header — 'Basquiat: Boom for Real / 21 Sep 2017—28 Jan 2018'. Two paragraphs of exhibition text describing Basquiat as 'pioneering prodigy of the 1980s downtown New York art scene' and noting 100+ works from international collections. Bold text: 'Book now / Advance booking essential / Free for Members / #BoomForReal'. Lower section: institutional credits — curated by Barbican

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Boom for Real, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2017

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Boom for Real, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2017

  • yperrealist painted relief of a male head in right profile, warm flesh tones, bird form at shoulder. Title 'fractured figure' in plain black lowercase type across lower half. 29.21 × 37.46 cm oversized paperback. Black-and-white photographic collage of two hands holding a small landscape reproduction, layered over torn paper and circular stain. ISBN 9780981577128 at lower right.

    FRACTURED FIGURE: Vol. II — Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection, Deitch Projects / DESTE Foundation, 2008

    FRACTURED FIGURE: Vol. II — Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection, Deitch Projects / DESTE Foundation, 2008

  • Anonymous postcard reproduction after Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled III from The Figure Portfolio, 1982. Recto showing two schematic figures in red, orange and yellow against a dense field of handwritten letters, diagrams, colour notations and repeated graphic marks on white ground, 14.8 × 10 cm, colour-process print on coated card. Reverse of anonymous postcard reproduction after Jean-Michel Basquiat, c. 1982. Verso showing standard divided postal format on uncoated matte white card with address lines and Place Stamp Here box. No title, artist credit, publisher or copyright statement. Unposted and unwritten.

    AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled III, from The Figure Portfolio, Postcard Reproduction, c. 1982

    AFTER JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Untitled III, from The Figure Portfolio, Postcard Reproduction, c. 1982

  • Original 1984 Artscribe No. 47 July–August magazine cover featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing, showing a large-format graphite and charcoal head with crown motif, heavily worked with layered scribbled lines, staring eyes, and open mouth, against cream ground, with masthead 'ARTSCRIBE' in large dark red block capitals at top, 'No.47' at lower left and '£1.50/$3' at lower right. Reverse of 1984 Artscribe No. 47 Jean-Michel Basquiat wraparound cover showing the back panel of the magazine with continuation of Basquiat's drawing: a fragmented figure with the word 'EYE' inscribed in an oval, a glass or vessel form, gestural marks and lines, and at lower left a pink rubber-stamp style circular logo reading 'TOBACCO / TRADE MARK' enclosing a grinning figure with ships, all on cream ground.

    Jean-Michel Basquiat — Artscribe No. 47, July–August 1984

    Jean-Michel Basquiat — Artscribe No. 47, July–August 1984

  • Original 2006 Jean-Michel Basquiat Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat exhibition invitation, Agnès B. Skyline, Paris — recto showing film still of Basquiat standing before graffiti-covered wall bearing the phrase Like an Ignorant, Lower East Side, from Downtown 81 dir. Edo Bertoglio. Reverse of 2006 Jean-Michel Basquiat Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat exhibition invitation, Agnès B. Skyline, Paris — verso showing distressed stencil-style numerals in high-contrast red and black typography with Downtown 81 / F.O.B. Friends of Basquiat branding.

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat, Agnès B. Skyline, Paris, 2006

    JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT — Downtown 81: Friends of Basquiat, Agnès B. Skyline, Paris, 2006

  • Original 1985 Art Scribe No. 51 magazine, Artscribe Ltd, London — cover featuring Bruce McLean work on green ground with black figure and red circle, price £1.50 printed, March–April 1985. Original 1985 Art Scribe No. 51, Artscribe Ltd, London — open spread showing full Bruce McLean cover image: black figure with outstretched hand and red circle on green background.

    ART SCRIBE No. 51 — Basquiat, Kathy Acker, Lynne Cooke, Artscribe Ltd, London, 1985

    ART SCRIBE No. 51 — Basquiat, Kathy Acker, Lynne Cooke, Artscribe Ltd, London, 1985