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Artworks
Peter OsborneIn This Case - Jean Michel Basquiat, 2022Original Mixed Media On CanvasFramed Size 25 5/8 x 25 5/8 in
Framed Size 65 x 65 cmPO34Further images
The original In This Case is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever purchased....The original In This Case is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1983. The artwork, which depicts a skull, is among the most expensive paintings ever purchased. In May 2021, it sold for $93.1 million at Christie's New York, the second highest auction record by Basquiat.The full face of this portrait covers the canvas completely, though the portrait itself is Expressionist in style, which all manner of strange objects combining together to produce the overall piece. This is entirely typical of Basquiat in general and he regularly made use of the human head in his work, normally as a means to communicating mortality when as a skull, or in other cases to represent different moods. In this Case features a more solid head with a single eye looking out in a menacing manner towards the left of the viewer. The teeth are elaborately decorated with touches of green and red paint, whilst the jaw is left relatively untouched, allowing the background tones of red to show through. There are some strange dial displays featured across the face which hold symbolic values, be it perhaps time. One must research many of Basquiat's artworks in order to understand the meanings of these different elements, as they are not always easy to decipher initially.
