Head
Unsigned Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat
£90,000-£140,000Value
Indicator
$170,000-$270,000 Value Indicator
$150,000-$240,000 Value Indicator
¥820,000-¥1,270,000 Value Indicator
€110,000-€160,000 Value Indicator
$890,000-$1,390,000 Value Indicator
¥16,770,000-¥26,080,000 Value Indicator
$110,000-$180,000 Value Indicator
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren’t enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Screen print in colours, on heavy wove paper. S. 101.3 x 101.3 cm (39 7/8 x 39 7/8 in.). Numbered in an edition of 85. Signed by the Administrator of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and dated 2001.
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Track auction value trend
The value of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Head (unsigned) is estimated to be worth between £90,000 and £140,000. Over the past five years, the hammer price ranges from £43,651 in March 2021 to £64,426 in October 2020. This screenprint artwork has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 9%. This work has an impressive auction history, having been sold 23 times at auction since its first auction sale in June 2007. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 85.
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2021 | Sotheby's London - United Kingdom | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| October 2020 | Phillips New York - United States | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| November 2018 | Julien's Auctions - United States | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| April 2018 | Phillips New York - United States | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| January 2018 | Phillips London - United Kingdom | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| June 2016 | Phillips London - United Kingdom | Head - Unsigned Print | |||
| March 2016 | Christie's London - United Kingdom | Head - Unsigned Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Head is a screen print in colours by Jean-Michel Basquiat, created in 1983. This image of this signed print is a visceral example of Basquiat’s imaginative blurring of the boundary between the internal and external body. At the same time that we see an outline of the certain features of the face, including the mouth and the ears, there is a void where the nose would usually be, suggesting a skull.
The rough blue lines which surround the top of the head appear like barbed wire. This is a head at once palpably alive and literally scared to death with its expression of shock and fear. The thick, curving lines inside the skull evoke folds of brain tissue whilst the use of red lines suggests veins, adding to the tension between the skull and the living, breathing body. The cacophonous clash of colour, line and shape is simultaneously deeply alive and evocative of an artificial life form taken from the pages of a gothic horror.
Even when not faithfully sketching body parts depicted in Gray’s Anatomy, Head is a clear example of the artist’s persistent return to images rooted in an interest in the structures which make up the human form.
