Here’s Why Basquiat’s Heads Sell For Millions.
Music by: Rujay – Toxic. Image credit: Basquiat.
It’s CULTED with your 60-second ART BLAST.
Basquiat’s head paintings dominate the art world, but how did they become so popular?
For a start, African masks have come to be appropriated and commodified in the art world, but Basquiat’s designs came from a place of true authenticity. The faces in his paintings resemble traditional masks and are rooted in his identity as a Black artist, leading his work to be seen as a cultural reclamation.
Brett Gorvy explained that whilst he was alive “he was completely aware of how he was the only Black man in this whole art world and how there were no Black people in art history.” He went on to say that this is “hugely important to the iconography of his work.”
Basquiat’s paintings can be seen as a window into the soul, offering an interior expression of the tensions he faced on the daily. So it’s easy to see why his work has become some of the most valuable on the planet.
In 2017, one of his pieces from 1982 sold for an incredible $110.4M at a Sotheby’s auction, and his work continues to sell for millions across the globe.
So guys, are you a Basquiat fan?
Let us know below.
Watch more videos on CULTED
See also: MEET THE ARTIST FUSING SUPERHEROES WITH TRADITIONAL CHINESE STYLING
See also: INTRODUCING THE EMPOWERING, COLOURFUL WORK OF BART COOPER
