Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Portrait of Famous Ballplayer)

signed with the artist's tag, inscribed and dated "SAMO© NEW YORK 1981" on the reverse
acrylic, oilstick and Xerox collage on canvas
50 1/8 x 43 1/2 in. (127.3 x 110.5 cm)
Executed in 1981.

Provenance

Galleria Mazzoli, Modena
Annina Nosei Gallery, New York
Francesco Pellizzi, New York (acquired from the above in 1983)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibited

New York, Annina Nosei Gallery, Jean-Michel Basquiat Memorial Exhibition, December 3, 1988–January 15, 1989
Hempstead, New York, Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 1979–1989 American, Italian, Mexican Art from the Collection of Francesco Pellizzi, April 16–November 2, 1989, no. 2, pp. 32, 58 (illustrated, p. 32)
Art Gallery of Ontario, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now’s the Time, February 7–May 10, 2015, pp. 19, 116-117, 223 (illustrated, p. 117)
Paris, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Jean-Michel Basquiat, October 3, 2018–January 4, 2019, no. 34, pp. 22, 24, 35, 116-117 (illustrated, p. 117; titled Untitled (“Famous”))

Literature

Annina Nosei Gallery, Annina Nosei Gallery: 1989-1990-1991-1992, New York, 1992, p. 13 (Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, 1988-1989, installation view illustrated)
Donald Kuspit, The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist, New York, 1993 (illustrated on the front cover; titled Famous Black Athlete)
Richard D. Marshall and Jean-Louis Prat, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paris, 1996, no. 3, pp. 62-63 (illustrated, p. 62)
Tony Shafrazi, Jeffrey Deitch and Richard D. Marshall, Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York, 1999, p. 315
Richard D. Marshall and Jean-Louis Prat, Jean-Michel Basquiat, vol. II, Paris, 2000, no. 3, pp. 86-87 (illustrated, p. 86)
Jean-Michel Basquiat 1981: The Studio of the Street, exh. cat., Deitch Projects, New York, 2006, pp. 220-221 (illustrated, p. 221)
“Top sports art to get you psyched about the Olympics,” TimeOut, June 11, 2008, online (illustrated)
Bryan Miller, “The Ten List: Art Loves Baseball,” Glasstire, July 11, 2012, online (illustrated)