• 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.
  • nterior double-page spread from 1984 Artscribe No. 47 showing a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing reproduction: three figures with crown motif at upper left, text fragments including 'FALLING', 'BEING CHASED', 'FIDEOPHK', 'E 49KEEOEK', numerical sequences '1500 150 1500', 'EEEEEEE', and grid forms, rendered in graphite and ink on white ground.
  • Interior double-page spread from 1984 Artscribe No. 47 showing a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing reproduction: a dense composition with a large face at right, hands, text fragments including 'POISON', 'EYE EYE', 'SILVER', '3000', 'FLEXI DIG / FLEXI DIGIT', 'BLACK©', 'BLACK TM', 'SILVER TM', 'BED AKER', and scattered numerical and symbolic marks in graphite and ink.
  • Interior pages from 1984 Artscribe No. 47 showing a two-page article spread with small colour reproductions of paintings by an unidentified artist alongside a text interview, with caption references to Marlborough Gallery and dates 1982–1984, printed in two-column serif type on white ground.
  • Detail of the back cover of 1984 Artscribe No. 47 showing Jean-Michel Basquiat's drawing with 'EYE' label, vessel and glass forms, diagonal lines, and the pink 'TOBACCO TRADE MARK' stamp device at lower left on cream ground.
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The New Rare

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

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

Artist
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Publisher
The New Rare
Place & year
London, 1984
Type
Magazine
Format
Softcover magazine, full wraparound cover by Jean-Michel Basquiat
Size
Approx. 29.5 × 21 cm
Featuring
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Condition
Good vintage condition; light toning, rubbing, edge wear, softened corners, minor creasing and handling marks consistent with age and use, interior Basquiat spreads present and strong.
Register
TNR-2026-0185 · 11 June 2026
£500
£500
Sale Placed
Register No. TNR-2026-0185
Registered 11 June 2026
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Shipping: UK £7, free over £50 · Europe £18 · US & Canada £25 · Rest of world £30.
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Notes

Rare 1984 issue of Artscribe featuring a full wraparound cover by Jean-Michel Basquiat, with two interior double-page Basquiat image spreads printed inside the magazine. The cover extends across front and back, turning the periodical itself into a temporary printed support for Basquiat’s drawing language.

Issued during a crucial early moment in Basquiat’s international visibility, this issue sits before the later saturation of his image through museum catalogues, merchandise, and posthumous reproduction. Here, Basquiat appears in real time, inserted into the British art press as both cover image and interior sequence.

Complete copies with the wraparound cover intact and strong interior Basquiat pages are increasingly scarce. This is not a later retrospective publication, but a period object from 1984: magazine, distribution surface, and retained evidence of Basquiat’s early circulation through the European art world.

A sharp early Basquiat-related publication object.
The magazine carried the image. The object remained.

Shipping and handling included in the listed price. Ships carefully packed with protective backing.

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