A series of paintings Basquiat made during an Italian residency he hated have been brought together at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland

by godlove4241 June 13, 2023

June 13, 2023 0 comment

Although essentially synonymous with the New York underground scene of the 1980s, Jean-Michel Basquiat also travels frequently across Asia and Europe. On a trip to Modena, Italy in 1982 he produced a group of eight new paintings for an exhibition with dealer Emilio Mazzoli which ultimately never took place.

Inevitably, over time, these works made their own journey around the world. Just over 40 years later, they were all brought together for the first time in a new show at the Fondation Beyeler in the Swiss town of Riehen, near Basel.

The typically expressive works each measure at least six and a half feet by 13 feet and tend to focus on a solitary figure who is, in some cases, accompanied by a cow or dog. Lacking any of the common metropolitan motifs that Basquiat liked to employ, they seem to reflect his new, more provincial location. Some of the compositions had been spray painted on old abandoned canvases by the artist Mario Schifano, and all are easily identifiable thanks to the inscription “Modena” on the back. As such, they can be considered a cohesive body of work.

Basquiat was only 21 in 1982, but his star was rising rapidly and in June he was the youngest artist to exhibit at Documenta 7 in Kassel. The year before, Mazzoli had offered him his first personal exhibition under his original pseudonym of SAMO. So, in early 1982, the artist gladly accepted an invitation from the Italian dealer to visit Modena and produce further works in his warehouse studio.

Looking back on the arrangement a few years later, however, Basquiat compared it to “a sick factory. I hated. I wanted to be a star, not a gallery mascot. He was surely relieved, then, when Mazzoli had a disagreement with Basquiat’s New York gallery owner, Annina Nosei, and the show was canceled. Nosei eventually sold the canvases, some of which became his most renowned and beloved canvases.

“Basquiat: The Paintings of Modena” runs until August 27. Preview of the works in the exhibition below.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, gold teeth guilt (1982). Photo: Annik Wetter, © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, under license Artestar, New York.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Boy and dog in a Johnnypump (1982). Photo: Daniel Portnoy © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, under license Artestar, New York.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, The field next to the other road (1982). Photo: Adam Reic, © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, under license Artestar, New York.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Woman with Roman Torso [Venus]) (1982). Photo: Robert Bayer, © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, under license Artestar, New York.