Courtesy of Christie’s.
A 12-foot-wide canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat from 1983 that came from the collection of Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani is valued at more than $45 million at a Christie’s auction this May. The sale figure could potentially put the work among the most expensive works by the artist ever sold publicly.
The picture titled The Big Show (Neil), depicts floating skulls and figures set against a background dotted with scrawled phrases alluding to pharaohs and ancient Egyptian sites. In the center of this painting, which consists of three connected parts, a yellow boat is guided down the Nile by the god Osiris.
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It resided in Garavani’s personal collection for 18 years, appearing in issues since 2010. Vanity Fair in which the Italian fashion mogul is photographed sitting in front of the painting. Four years earlier, Garavani paid tribute to the artist with a collection of graffiti dresses using images licensed from the Basquiat estate archive. (In May 2021, Valentino co-founder Giancarlo Giametti sold a 1983 Basquiat painting for $93.1 million.)
The Nile was showcased in a traveling Basquiat show in 2005 that originated at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. It is believed to have been loaned to the exhibition by Garavani, having acquired it that year at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, where it sold for $5.2 million.
Backed by a third-party guarantee, the work will be offered for sale during Christie’s 21st Century Art Evening Sale at the House’s Rockefeller Center on May 15. For sale “from a distinguished collection,” according to the house’s catalog entry. The painting’s current estimated price is more than eight times what it was in 2005.
In a statement, Christie’s chairman Alex Rother said that when the artist completed the work at the age of 22, “unpacking historical constructs of race” was at the forefront of those early years in his practice. The Spanish title of the work, which translates as “The Great Show,” is also referred to as “The Nile,” a phrase written on the back of the canvas.
In some quarters, Basquiat’s paintings are considered financial trophies. Although the artist never lacked a market following, in recent years his works have fetched some of the highest sums at auction, making his name a trademark in the market sphere. The upcoming sale is another sign that 35 years after his death in 1988, Basquiat has become synonymous with luxury.
The Nile has also worked its way into the pop-cultural mainstream consciousness. Appeared as a rerun in the 2016 Showtime television series Billions, whose central storyline was based on a high-profile rift between hedge funder and collector Steve Cohen and a prominent American lawyer. In interviews, the show’s organizers said the series’ staging presented Basquiat as a luxury symbol for the upper echelons of the financial sector.
Part of the proceeds from its sale in May will go to the Accademia Valentino in Rome, an institution that is run separately from the fashion label’s umbrella but shares its founders. A spokesperson described the academy’s mission as “dedicated to art, fashion and education.” A portion of the proceeds from the sale will support a project to build new spaces at the headquarters.
“The worlds of fine art and luxury are historically linked,” said Christie’s contemporary art specialist Isabella Lauria ARTnews. In the audience, Lauria described Basquiat’s references “from art history to street art” as “rooted in a shared cultural consciousness.”
Lauria added: “In a sense, Basquiat saw the future and his references continue to become more prominent.”