Basquiat Painting 'Versus Medici' will be auctioned for the first time in May

A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat titled "Versus Medici" will be offered by Sotheby at a Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York on May 12. The painting is estimated to fetch between $35–50 million. It was painted by the artist in 1982 when he was just 22 years old. 

Versus Medici to be auctioned

According to the press release of Southeby's, "Versus Medici" is among the artist's most forceful visual challenges to the Western art establishment. The young artist crowns himself as successor to the artistic throne as established by the masters of the Italian Renaissance. The artwork has remained in the private collection since 1990 and it will appear for the auction for the first time. The painting was previously in the collection of Stephane Janssen who had acquired it from Larry Gagosian on a visit to Basquiat’s studio in 1982.

In the painting "Versus Medici", the artist has used visual language. He countered the dominance of the Italian Renaissance while overthrowing its masters. Through his artwork, he ambitiously waged war with the history of art. He in his art work not only assets himself within the history and also crowns himself a successor to the Renaissance masters. In "Versus Medici", Basquiat takes command of the Western art narrative, and crowns himself, the son of immigrants from Haiti and Puerto Rico. 

Versus Medici draws upon Basquiat’s extraordinary familiarity with centuries of tradition by echoing the time-honored format of the tripartite altarpiece, and references the religious and political power that were associated with them.

Basquiat made the painting on three joined canvases, even the structure of Versus Medici draws upon Basquiat’s extraordinary familiarity with centuries of tradition by echoing the time-honored format of the "tripartite altarpiece". Basquiat completed the art work in 1982, the same year as the record-breaking Untitled, which sold at Sotheby's in 2018 for $110.5 million. It was shortly after his breakthrough inclusion in the Times Square Show in 1980 and New York New Wave at PS1 in 1981. 

Basquiat was well-versed across art history, and a range of influences can be seen throughout the work – namely the anatomical complexity of early Leonardo drawings and the triptych format of the painting’s construction.

(Image Credits: Southeby's Instagram)