The Figure I
The Figure I
Unsigned Print
Jean-Michel Basquiat
122 x 81cm, Edition of 85, Screenprint, 2023
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Meaning & Analysis
The Figure I is a screen print in colours released by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2023, in an edition of 85. A crowned, dog-like figure stands at the centre of a crowded white sheet, his body built from layered strokes of black, orange and blue. It is the first of five prints in The Figure Portfolio, which draws on works Basquiat made in 1982.
The figure's snout is open to reveal teeth, and his wide eyes give him the startled expression found in many of Basquiat's heads. His torso is a dense mesh of crossed lines, while his boots are blocked in with blue and orange. Smaller creatures crowd the margins around him: a crowned head with bared teeth in the upper left, a horned face in the top right corner, and a blue animal with a halo to the right, its jaw open towards the central figure.
The background is filled with repeated letters and words. “MR.” runs down the left edge and along the base, while rows of “F”, “N” and “M” fill blocks of the composition like copying exercises. A triangle studded with red dots sits above the figure's head, a form that recurs across the portfolio. The crown, Basquiat's emblem for the figures he admired, gives the central character a status that sits uneasily with his cartoonish appearance.
