Property from the Private Collection of Sir Paul Smith
BANKSY
Sunflowers from Petrol Station
signed ‘Banksy’ (center left); signed and dated ‘BANKSY OCTOBER 2005’ (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas, in artist's frame
40 ⅝ x 34 ⅜ in. (102.6 x 87.5 cm.)
Executed in 2005.
Estimate: $12,000,000 - $18,000,0000
Banksy’s Sunflowers from Petrol Station (estimate: $12,000,000- $18,000,000) from the collection of Sir Paul Smith will highlight Christie’s 21st Century Art Evening Sale on Tuesday, 9 November 2021. The painting, executed in 2005, will be exhibited in Christie’s New York, where it will be on view from 30 October – 9 November ahead of the sale.
Katharine Arnold, Christie’s Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Europe, remarks: “Following the record-breaking sale of Game Changer (2020) in March – another major oil on canvas by Banksy – we are delighted to offer Sunflowers from Petrol Station this November. Belonging to the legendary British designer, Sir Paul Smith, the work is an icon within Banksy’s oeuvre, capturing not only his facility as a painter but also the wry humour that he brings to bear upon global issues. Here, the sheer comedy of wilted flowers bought from a petrol station becomes a means of highlighting our relationship with art and the environment: both, he reminds us, are transient.”
Sir Paul Smith remarks: “What initially attracted me to Banksy was his confidence and clarity to communicate something exactly as it is, I was so impressed by his observations of what was happening in the world and that remains true of the work he’s doing today. His political statements are completely on point, really profound, really brave and consistently delivered in a modern way. I was delighted to have the opportunity to be able to own a piece of his work and the Sunflower itself presents such a brilliantly unique way of thinking about things.”
Sunflowers from Petrol Station was first exhibited in October 2005 as a part of Banksy’s highly celebrated exhibition, Crude Oils: A Gallery of Re-mixed Masterpieces, Vandalism and Vermin. The twelve-day show featured an important group of caricaturized art historical masterpieces by the artist, including works referencing Monet’s Japanese Bridge paintings, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Warhol’s Marilyn, which features Kate Moss as a stand in for Marilyn Monroe. This was the artist’s first exhibition following the creation of his iconic mural on the West Bank barrier just two months prior, and his first major solo exhibition since Turf War in London in 2003. As recently as March of 2021, Christie’s London successfully sold another seminal Banksy oil painting, Game Changer, which achieved over four times its high estimate of £3.5 million to realize £16.8 million—the current world auction record for the artist.
Sunflowers from Petrol Station is part of a limited group of Banksy works that belong in the realm of fine art objects as opposed to the street art editions for which he is best known. In this example, the artist presents a painterly and conceptual defacement of Van Gogh masterpiece, Sunflowers. As well as riffing on the comedy of wilted petrol station flowers – a far cry from Van Gogh’s magnificent blooms – the title implicates the pollution of both nature and culture at the hands of big corporations. Banksy wittily subverts the institutional reverence surrounding the art-historical canon while simultaneously alluding to issues of environmental damage: both key concerns within his practice. The reference to Van Gogh also calls upon the historical auction moment that took place at Christie’s London in 1987 when Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888) became the most expensive painting sold at auction at the time, realizing $39.9 million against an estimate of $15,000,000-$20,000,000—tripling the previous world record for any artwork sold at auction. This landmark moment also served as a catalyst for another celebrated Banksy series, a group of prints entitled Morons, which the artist began in 2006.
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
The Guilt of Gold Teeth
Estimate on Request
The Guilt of Gold Teeth, a masterpiece by Jean-Michel Basquiat, will be the top lot of the 21st Century Art Evening Sale, taking place on 9 November 2021 at Rockefeller Center in New York (estimate on request). Held for a nearly quarter century in a private collection, this rare and monumental 1982 canvas was created at the peak of the iconic artist’s career. This stands as an incredible example of a very limited group of career-defining works that Basquiat painted during a trip to Modena, Italy in March of 1982. The eight paintings created by Basquiat in Modena in 1982 remain some of his greatest artistic achievements, with two having established record breaking results at auction. Five years ago in May of 2016, Untitled set a world auction record, selling for $57.3 million at Christie’s New York and Profit sold for $5.5 million at Christie’s New York in 2002, establish a record for the artist at the time, which remained unbroken until 2007.
Ana Maria Celis, Christie’s Senior Vice President, Senior Specialist, and Head of 21st Century Art Evening Sale, remarks, “Painted in Modena when the artist was at the young age of 22, The Guilt of Gold Teeth represents an absolutely pivotal moment in Basquiat’s career. For the first time, he was exhibiting internationally, while simultaneously coming to a cultural reckoning with his own identity as a Black American. Through the inclusion of Baron Samedi, a key figure in Haitian Vodou, this work pays homage to his father’s heritage. Stunning, impactful, and rare, The Guilt of Gold Teeth has not come to auction since 1998. We are beyond thrilled to present it as the top lot in our November 21st Century Art Evening sale this season.”
The central figure in this example is identified as Baron Samedi, a spirit of Haitian Vodou and leader of the Gede – who tends to shepherding departed souls to the ‘other side.’ Versions of this figure appear in several of Basquiat’s paintings, and The Guilt of Gold Teeth is one of the earliest depictions. Baron Samedi is linked closely with death, revelry, and safekeeping. He is frequently depicted as a skeletal figure dressed in funeral attire, including his signature top hat. He is both a protective caretaker as well as a riotous trickster, representing multitudes—just as much about life as about death.
Basquiat traveled to Modena for the first time in 1981; a fresh face on the art scene, the young artist was given his first one-man show under the name ‘SAMO’ at Emilio Mazzoli’s gallery. On the artist’s second trip to Modena in the spring of 1982, Mazzoli provided him with a large studio space and his artistic practice made a palpable shift. For the first time, the epic scale of his canvases allowed him to express the full scope of his artistic ambitions, while at the same time replicating the urban canvases offered up to him by the buildings of New York, where he developed his highly original artistic language. It was also at this moment that Basquiat’s body of work began to form a collective narrative around his experience as a Black man in America, while still maintaining his signature graffiti style, rife with coded nomenclature and symbolic linguistic elements (for example, ‘ASPURIA’ is thought to be a playful subversion of the Italian word aspirare, which means ‘to aspire’).
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Here is the King: Basquiat Masterworks from 1982
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT (1960-1988)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict
signed, titled and dated ‘JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT 1982 “PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG DERELICT” (on the reverse of the left panel)
triptych—acrylic, oil, oilstick and hardware on hinged wood construction
overall: 81 ⅝ x 82 ⅜ x 3 ⅝ in. (207.3 x 209.2 x 9.2 cm.)
Executed in 1982.
Christie’s will present Jean-Michel Basquiat’sPortrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict, 1982 (estimate on request) as a leading highlight in the 21st Century Evening Sale this May in New York City at Rockefeller Center. This rare work is executed across three large conjoined panels, the construction of which was executed by the artist. Standing as both self-portrait and altarpiece, it represents a highpoint in the artist’s brief but explosive career.
Created in the artist’s Crosby Street studio, this masterwork reflects the raw energy and excitement of Basquiat’s practice in 1982. Executed at the highpoint of his career, it was included in the artist’s seminal show at Fun Gallery (November - December 1982), widely considered the best exhibition of his lifetime. One of the most remarkable works that Basquiat ever produced, this monumental painting synthesizes the artist’s masterful painterly abilities with his early experience of life on the streets. It contains all of the artist’s celebrated motifs: his signature three-pointed crown, his anatomical studies, his evocative words, and his vast array of expressive painterly gestures, standing as an encyclopedic manifestation of the artist’s career. As such, it has been included in many seminal Basquiat retrospectives globally including the Brooklyn Museum (2005-2006), Fondation Beyeler and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2010-2011), and Fondation Louis Vuitton (2018-2019). Having been in the same collection for over two decades, this May will be the first time it has appeared at auction.
Ana Maria Celis, Head of Christie’s New York 21st Century Evening Sale, remarks: “We are truly thrilled to offer Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict by Basquiat as a leading highlight of our 21stCentury Evening Sale during this Spring’s Marquee Week. This is a rare work of self-portraiture, containing a rich multitude of references that touch upon all aspects of Basquiat’s life—ranging from his childhood to his meteoric rise to fame to ruminations of his own mortality. Its magnificent structure evokes the grandeur of altarpieces of the Northern Renaissance, with a highly unique picture support that classifies it among the most special within the artist’s oeuvre.”
During a time period when graffiti artists were largely criminalized, this work can be seen as Basquiat’s altar to graffiti art and artists. Its creation predates and somewhat foretells the story of Michael Stewart, a young Black graffiti artist and close friend of Basquiat, who was arrested and subsequently died of injuries sustained while in police custody in 1983. As Keith Haring said: “[Basquiat] was completely freaked out. It was like it could have been him.” Painted one year earlier, this work has been said to foreshadow this event— as well as the fate of the artist himself.
In the work, Basquiat portrays one of his iconic ‘heads’ on the side panel amongst a cacophony of words, signs, and symbols that serve as cultural markers for moments of the past, present, and future. The title also serves as a reference to James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, demonstrating Basquiat’s preoccupation with literature and poetry. The spontaneous and frenetic combination of linguistic, figurative, symbolic and abstract elements come together in this masterwork in a fantastic linguistic conflation of sense and nonsense.
The sale will also be highlighted by another work by Basquiat,
See Plate 3, 1982 (estimate: $4,000,000-6,000,000). This work, one of the rare sculptures by Basquiat, was held in the collection of Keith Haring until his death in 1990.The object debuted along with Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict at Fun Gallery in 1982. It has also been widely exhibited in major international Basquiat exhibitions and retrospectives, including Whitney Museum of American Art (1992-1993), Brooklyn Museum (2005-2006), traveling exhibition organized by Fondation Beyeler (2010) and Fondation Louis Vuitton (2018-2019).
Brett Gorvy, Christie’s International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, remarked: “We are very proud to lead our evening sale with this truly exceptional work by Basquiat. Untitled is a remarkably powerful canvas, which instantly engulfs any viewer standing in its monumental presence. Untitled is among the top three paintings from the tremendously important body of work that the artist executed in 1982 while in Modena, Italy, which would go on to shape the rest of his career. It is also the cover image of the artist’s Catalogue Raisonné. Due to its striking visual impact, its demonic central figure and its significance within the cannon of Basquiat’s career, we are confident that its supreme quality and rarity will command tremendous interest from the world’s leading international collectors and it is set to realize one of the highest prices for the artist at auction.”
The full force of the artist’s energy can be witnessed across every inch of this vast canvas. From the lavishly fashioned demonic figure in the center of the canvas, to his brazen use of painterly drips, splashes and impulsive brushwork, the surface of Untitled acts as a totem to Basquiat’s unencumbered talent. Painted during his trip to Modena in Italy, Untitled belongs to a significant group of paintings that helped to forge his reputation as one of the most exciting and radical artists of his generation.
Basquiat’s dramatic figure dominates the canvas, with a face that displays the full force of his painterly prowess. This central subject has often been identified as a self-portrait of the artist. In contrast to the precise definition of the devil figure, Basquiat orchestrates a flurry of loose drips and splashes of paint set amidst of expressionistic brushstrokes that shows him to be a phenomenal colorist.
Untitled is the largest in a series of paintings which Basquiat undertook during two periods he spent in Modena, Italy in the spring of 1981 and 1982. He was initially invited to Europe by Emilio Mazzoli to participate in his first ever one-man show after the dealer saw the artist’s work in January 1981 at the legendary New York/New Wave show at New York’s P.S. 1. After the initial trip he returned again in March 1982 and it was during this stay that he painted Untitled, as well as
Profit 1
and Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump,
which are widely considered to be the artist’s three most important paintings of this prime period.
1982 was a marquee year for Basquiat as it saw him continue his meteoric rise within the New York art world as he was rewarded with his first solo show at Annina Nosei's gallery. He also made an important trip to Los Angeles where he was introduced to—and proved to be a major hit with—influential collectors such as Eli and Edythe Broad, Douglas S. Cramer and Stephane Janssen. He was also the youngest of 176 artists to be invited to take part in Documenta 7 in Germany.
Basquiat’s work found favor with many influential critics who had been yearned for the return of ‘the expressive’, ever since the triumph of Minimalism in the late 1960s and 1970s. In Basquiat they found a new champion who clearly reveled in the joy of the artist’s hand. As Italian curator Luca Marenzi, once observed: “Basquiat is art’s answer to Jimi Hendrix…” (L. Marenzi, ‘Pay for Soup/Build a Fort/Set that on Fire,’ in Basquiat, exh. cat., Museo Revoltella, Milano, 1999).
Top Five Prices for Basquiat at auction include:
1. Dustheads, acrylic, oilstick, spray enamel and metallic paint on canvas, 1982
Estimate: $25-35million | Price Realized: $48,843,752
Sale of: Christie's New York: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
2. The Field Next to the Other Road, acrylic, enamel spray paint, oilstick, metallic paint and ink on canvas, 1981.
Estimate: $25-35million | Price Realized: $37,125,000
Sale of Christie's New York: Wednesday, May 13, 2015
3. Untitled, acrylic, oilstick and metallic spray enamel on canvas, 1981
Sale of: Christie's New York: Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Estimate: $20-30m | Price Realized: $34,885,000
4. Untitled, acrylic and oilstick on wood panel, 1982
Sale of: Christie's New York: Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Estimate: $25-35m | Price Realized: $29,285,000
5. Untitled (diptych), diptych-acrylic and oilstick on panel, 1982
Sale of Christie's London: Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Estimate on Request | Price Realized: £18,765,876 ($28,928,434)
