''Warrior'' is a painting created by American artist

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

in 1982. It is interpreted as "a semi-autobiographical work championing his creative vision as a black artist." In March 2021, the painting sold for $41.8 million at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in Hong Kong, becoming the most expensive Western artwork sold at auction in Asia.

History

Jean-Michel Basquiat painted ''Warrior'' in 1982, a milestone year in his career. He had his first individual American exhibition at the Annina Nosei Gallery in New York, and he became the youngest artist ever to take part in ''

documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

'' in Kassel. Basquiat later recalled that he "made the best paintings ever" in 1982, which is considered his most valuable year. Basquiat painted ''Warrior'' on a wooden panel in his studio in the basement of the Annina Nosei Gallery. The painting depicts a commanding

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

brandishing a sword, representing the eponymous warrior, on a backdrop of yellow and blue patches. It is reminiscent of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

depictions of court

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

s such as ''

Young Knight in a Landscape ''Young Knight in a Landscape'', or ''Portrait of a Knight'', is an oil on canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio, now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid. Dated 1510, this is the earliest full-length portra ...

'' (1510) by Vittore Carpaccio. ''Warrior'' first appeared in an exhibition of his work at the Akira Ikeda Gallery in Tokyo in 1983. In the coming decades it traveled to exhibitions in Paris, Vienna, and Milan. It sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

for $1.8 million in 2005 and $5.6 million in 2007. In 2012, German-American real estate developer and art collector

Aby Rosen Aby or ABY may refer to: Places * Aby, Ivory Coast * Aby Lagoon, a lagoon in Ivory Coast * Abyy or Aby, Sakha Republic, Russia ** Aby Lowland * Aby, Lincolnshire, a village in England, UK * Åby, Norrköping Municipality, Sweden * Åby, Växjö Mu ...

purchased the painting for $8.7 million at Sotheby's. In March 2021, Warrior sold for $41.7 million at a live-streamed Christie's auction in Hong Kong, which set a new auction record for the highest price paid for a Western artwork in Asia.

Exhibitions

''Warrior'' has been exhibited at major art institutions worldwide, which include: * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat: Paintings'' at Akira Ikeda Gallery in Tokyo, November–December 1983. * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at Galerie Enrico Navarra in Paris, April–June, 1996. * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1980-1988'' at Quintana Gallery in Coral Gables, December 1996–February 1997. * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat: Paintings and Works on Paper'' at Kunsthaus in Vienna, February–April 1999. * ''The Mugrabi Collection: Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at Museum Würth in Künzelsau, September 2001–January 2002. * ''The Jean-Michel Basquiat Show'' at Fondazione La Triennale in Milan, September 2006–January 2007. * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at Gagosian Gallery in New York, February–April 2013. * ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in New York, March–May 2019.

References

{{Jean-Michel Basquiat Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat 1982 paintings Black people in art

History

Exhibitions

See also

References