Untitled Auction History

Provenance: Executed by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1981 [1]. Exhibited in the artist’s debut New York solo show at Annina Nosei Gallery in March 1982 [1][2]. Acquired by Eli and Edythe L. Broad and accessioned into their collection on December 9, 1982 (now The Broad, Los Angeles) [1]. Subsequently lent to major exhibitions, including the 2010 Paris retrospective, credited to the Broad collection [3].

Note on title: The Basquiat Estate records that the “(Skull)” descriptor followed the work after appearing on a 1982 invoice; the painting was first presented simply as Untitled [2].

This canvas is a cornerstone early “head” by Basquiat, first shown at Annina Nosei Gallery in March 1982 and acquired later that year by Eli and Edythe L. Broad; no price was disclosed and the work has never appeared at public auction [1][2]. Its long-term residence in a museum-level collection has effectively removed a prime early example from the market, reinforcing scarcity in a segment of Basquiat’s oeuvre that commands the strongest demand. The painting’s subsequent loans, including to the 2010 Paris retrospective, further cemented its scholarly status and visibility while maintaining an unbroken, stable provenance line [3].

The Estate’s account clarifies that the commonly used “(Skull)” tag was attached via a 1982 invoice rather than by the artist at creation, an important nuance for cataloging and comparison with other head images [2]. Even so, the market’s appetite for monumental head pictures is well documented: Basquiat’s Untitled (1982, skull) achieved $110.5m at Sotheby’s in 2017, then a record for the artist and an American artwork at auction at the time [4]. Another major head, In This Case (1983), realized $93.1m at Christie’s in 2021 [5]. Broader demand for early 1982–83 masterworks remains evidenced by high-profile results like Untitled (ELMAR) (1982), which sold for $46.5m at Phillips in 2024 [6].

The Broads were among Basquiat’s earliest West Coast collectors in 1982, a context that helps explain the work’s swift placement into a prominent collection and its absence from the auction cycle thereafter [7]. For market observers, this ownership history underscores how museum-level, long-term holdings shape supply and comparables: while this exact painting has no public price history, its quality, date, and subject situate it alongside the most valuable strata of the artist’s market [1][2][4][5][6].