Jawbone of an Ass - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Archival giclée
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Description
A seminal 1982 work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, featuring dense text, historical references, and raw gestural marks on canvas.
Jawbone of an Ass (1982) is a characteristic example of Jean-Michel Basquiat's approach to the canvas as a site for historical and cultural synthesis. The work functions as a dense, non-linear archive, incorporating lists of names, classical references, and fragmented text that challenge traditional hierarchies of knowledge. Basquiat juxtaposes figures from antiquity, such as Cleopatra and Socrates, with references to American history and popular culture. This layering of information creates a visual rhythm that mirrors the chaotic nature of information consumption.
The composition is divided into distinct zones, with a central yellow panel acting as a ledger of names and events. Basquiat employs his signature raw, gestural line work, using oilstick to scrawl text and figures directly onto the surface. The inclusion of the crown motif, a recurring element in his oeuvre, appears on the left, asserting a sense of authority and personal identity amidst the historical references. The use of Roman numerals at the base of the canvas further anchors the work in a sense of antiquity, while the aggressive, crossed-out text suggests a critique of the very history being documented.
Basquiat's technique involves a combination of painting, drawing, and collage, resulting in a surface that feels both immediate and weathered. The colour palette is restrained, relying on ochre, black, and white to maintain focus on the textual elements. By presenting these disparate pieces of information together, the artist invites the viewer to construct their own narratives from the fragments. The work avoids a singular interpretation, instead offering a complex field of signs that reflect the artist's engagement with the social and political structures of his time.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Jawbone of an Ass - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Artist Biography
Jean Michel Basquiat
He had no formal art training. He dropped out of school at seventeen and slept on park benches and friends' floors. He sold hand-painted postcards and t-shirts. He gate-crashed a restaurant where the critic Henry Geldzahler was eating with Andy Warhol and handed them a postcard. Warhol bought one. The art world opened.
By twenty-one he was showing in galleries. By twenty-two he was the youngest artist ever invited to Documenta in Kassel. The paintings are dense, layered, furious: text fragments, anatomical drawings, crown symbols, crossed-out words, references to Black history, jazz, boxing, anatomy textbooks, and street signage. They look unplanned but they are not. The crossed-out words are deliberate. He wanted you to read them, then register the erasure.
He and Warhol collaborated on a series of paintings in 1984 and 1985. The relationship was complicated by the art market's tendency to treat Basquiat as Warhol's protege rather than his peer, and by the fact that Warhol, older and more established, got better reviews for the joint work. Basquiat pulled away.
He died of a heroin overdose in 1988, at twenty-seven. His paintings now sell for over 100 million dollars. He would have found that both satisfying and absurd.
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