A collaborative work by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, measuring an impressive 10-by-13 feet wide, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction this May. The untitled artwork last appeared on the market nearly 15 years ago, when it hammered $2.65 million at Sotheby’s in 2010. The auction house currently estimates its value in the region of $18 million, increasing nearly sixfold.
Untitled was produced amid the high-profile collaboration between the two artists spanning 1983 to 1985—which was explored in depth in an exhibition last year at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. The two artists were introduced by Zurich-based gallerist Bruno Bischofberge in 1982. One of approximately 160 paintings created during this time, the work marries Warhol’s signature screenprinting techniques with Basquiats’s expressive figuration. Basquiat said of the collaboration, “Andy would start one and put something very recognizable on it, or a product logo, and I would sort of deface it.”
At first, the collaborative paintings were widely criticized. In 1985, the artists presented the work at New York’s Tony Shafrazi Gallery without any sales. That would lead to the end of the collaboration. This period closely preceded the deaths of both artists, with Warhol passing away in 1987 and Basquiat in 1988.
“When Warhol and Basquiat first revealed the fruits of their collaboration at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1985, the critical reception failed to see the true artistic vision of what is undoubtedly the most important artistic collaboration of the 20th century,” said Grégoire Billault, Sotheby’s chairman of contemporary art. “Nearly 40 years later, the collaborative works are now, rightfully, seen as a landmark and an integral part of both artists’ bodies of work, synthesizing their contrasting styles and visions with total iconoclasm.”
Ahead of the May sale, the most valuable painting to sell from the collaboration period is Zenith (1985), which sold for $11.4 million at Phillips in May 2014.
