Jean-Michel Basquiat, Attributed/Manner of:...

Origin of Cotton. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Attributed/Manner of: Origin of Cotton

Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960–1988)

Mixed media on paper depicting two mask-like heads surrounded by fragmented words, symbols, crowns, numbers, and repeated geographic references. Executed with black ink, watercolor, and colored washes in green, yellow, red, and gray, the composition combines raw figuration with handwritten text and graphic marks in a manner closely associated with Basquiat’s neo-expressionist visual language.

The work includes the inscriptions “ST. LOUIS,” “ST. PAUL,” “MISSISSIPPI,” “HAITI,” “PORT AU PRINCE,” “ORIGIN OF COTTON,” repeated “RUBBER,” the number “1124460,” and several crown motifs. Signed “BASQUIAT” lower right.

The verso bears blue gallery-style stamps reading “Art Gallery New York, 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY 10001,” together with an additional stamp referring to “ART ON CANVA STUDIO” and a New York address. These markings are noted as present on the work and are not independently authenticated.

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist whose work combined graffiti-inspired mark making, anatomy, history, race, language, commerce, and cultural symbolism. His compositions are especially recognized for their layered text, repeated words, crowns, skeletal figures, and deliberately raw visual energy, creating images that function simultaneously as painting, drawing, and social commentary.

DIMENSIONS
Unframed: 8 1/2 x 11 5/8 in.

PROVENANCE
Private collection.