Flexible (Basquiat)

Flexible
Artist	Jean-Michel Basquiat
Year	1984
Medium	Acrylic and oilstick on wood
Movement	Neo-expressionism
Dimensions	259.1 cm × 190.5 cm (102.0 in × 75.0 in)
Location	Private collection

Flexible is a painting created by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1984. The artwork, which portrays a griot, sold for $45.3 million at Phillips in May 2018.^[1]

History

Jean-Michel Basquiat rose to prominence as a graffiti artist in the late 1970s, operating under the pseudonym SAMO.^[2] In the early 1980s, he began to direct his creative output towards painting and drawing. Basquiat often painted on objects he found in the streets such as discarded doors and furniture.^[3] By 1984, he had achieved international stardom for his artwork. Flexible was painted on a slatted 8.5 ft tall wood support that had been deconstructed from the fence at his studio in Venice, California.^[2] Basquiat later made several wood slat picture supports from material purchased at a SoHo lumber yard in New York.^[2] The wood slat fencing material was used in more than 17 paintings made between 1984 and 1986, including Gold Griot (1984), M (1984), Grillo (1984), and Jim Crow (1986).^[4]

Flexible depicts a griot—a storyteller, musician, and purveyor of oral history from West African culture—whose arms are joined together as a continuous band above the head.^[5] It was offered for sale for the first time, publicly or privately, in 2018. The painting was consigned directly from the Basquiat's estate.^[2] In May 2018, it sold for $45.3 million at Phillips' 20th Century & Contemporary Evening Sale, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of $20 million.^[1][6] It is the first Basquiat painting made after 1983 to sell for more than $20 million.

Exhibitions

Flexible has been exhibited at major art institutions worldwide, which include:

• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Mary Boone Gallery in New York, March 2–23, 1985.^[4]
• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Centre Culturel Français in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 10–November 7, 1986.^[4]
• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, October 1992–February 1993.^[4]
• Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, March 11–June 2005; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, July–October 2005; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 2005–February 2006.^[4]
• Basquiat at Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, May–September 2010; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, October 2010–January 2011.^[4]

See also

• List of paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat
• 1984 in art

References

1. Armstrong, Annie (May 18, 2018). "$45.3 M. Basquiat Is Top Lot in Robust $131.6 M. Phillips Sale of 20th-Century and Contemporary Art". ARTnews. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
2. "Phillips to Offer Basquiat's "Flexible" for First Time at Auction". Art & Object. March 30, 2018. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
3. "Jean-Michel Basquiat: Street As Studio". Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
4. "Jean-Michel Basquiat - Flexible". Phillips. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
5. Westall, Mark (March 29, 2018). "Phillips to Offer Basquiat's Flexible, the Iconic Painting's First Time at Auction". FAD Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
6. Sarah P., Hanson (May 4, 2018). "Basquiat's $20m work takes centre stage in Phillips sale". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 2021-01-10.