JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT | Loin

signed and dated 82 on the reverse

Gagosian Gallery, New York
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Private Collection
Christie's, New York, February 27, 1992, lot 134
Private Collection
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Los Angeles, Gagosian Gallery, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Paintings, April - May 1982
Malmö, Rooseum, Jean-Michel Basquiat/Julian Schnabel, April - May 1989, cat. no. 29, p. 51, illustrated in color
Turin, Palazzo Bricherasio, Pittura Dura: Dal Graffitismo alla Street Art, November 1999 - January 2000, no. 77, p. 105, illustrated in color
Museo d'Arte Moderna della Citta di Lugano, Jean-Michel Basquiat, March - June 2005, cat. no. 18, p. 45, illustrated in color, and p. 159, illustrated 
Fondazione La Trienalle di Milano, The Jean-Michel Basquiat Show, September 2006 - January 2007, no. 82, p. 211, illustrated in color
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario; Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now's the Time, February - November 2015, p. 82, illustrated in color
Milan, Museo delle Culture, Jean-Michel Basquiat, October 2016 - February 2017, pp. 70-71, illustrated in color
Rome, Chiostro del Bramante, Jean-Michel Basquiat: New York City, March - July 2017, pp. 52-53, illustrated in color
Sao Paulo; Brasilia; Belo Horizonte, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Jean-Michel Basquiat: Obras da Colecao Mugrabi, January - September 2018, p. 59, illustrated in color

Exh. Cat., New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Jean-Michel Basquiat, October 1992 - February 1993, p. 240, illustrated (in installation at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 1982)
Richard D. Marshall, Jean-Louis Prat and Enrico Navarra, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 2nd Ed., Vol. II, Paris, 1996, no. 7, p. 70, illustrated in color
Richard D. Marshall, Jean-Louis Prat and Enrico Navarra, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 3rd Ed., Vol. II, Paris, 2000, no. 7, p. 114, illustrated in color
Exh. Cat., Basel, Fondation Beyeler, Basquiat, May - September 2010, p. 64, illustrated (in installation at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 1982)
Exh. Cat., Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Basquiat, October 2010 - January 2011, p. 68, illustrated (in installation at Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 1982)

Executed on an impressive scale, this painting brings together many key aspects of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work in one powerful image. Throughout his career, the artist was always highly critical of systems of exploitation and abuse, both within society and in relation to the natural world. Loin from 1982 captures this critical attitude, depicting a large animal whose purpose has been reduced to a cut of tender meat known as the loin. With the area on the animal clearly marked in red and indicated with white text, and a bloodied steak knife to the left, Basquiat seems to question the human exploitation of animals. The large bone underneath the animal leaves no doubt as to its destiny.