Basquiat Exhibition X Warhol Louis Vuitton Foundation is already considered an event on the Parisian cultural agenda. From April 5 to August 28, 2023, the Louis Vuitton Foundation is hosting key works by a duo at the pinnacle of art in Paris!

Basquiat Exhibition X Warhol Louis Vuitton Foundation: Four Hands

Titled Four Hands, the Basquiat Exhibition X Warhol Louis Vuitton Foundation looks back on a duo as explosive as it is revolutionary. On the one hand Andy Warhol, father of Pop Art, on the other, Jean-Michel Basquiat, a dazzling artist considered one of the most important artists of the contemporary art movement. Having placed at the heart of art the use of imagery and symbols from popular culture and above all references to the history of art and to African and Haitian culture… Basquiat gave a boost to the art world!

At the Louis Vuitton Foundation, therefore, it is the works produced jointly by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol between 1984 and 1985 that find a perfect setting for their panache.

Their intense collaboration has led to the production of over 100 works — paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations!

“I draw first, and then I paint like Jean-Michel. I think the paintings we do together are better when you don’t know who did what,” confided Andy Warhol.

“Andy was starting most of the paintings. He put on something very recognizable, the logo of a brand, and in a way I defaced it. Then I tried to bring him back, I wanted him to paint again,” said Jean-Michel Basquiat at the time.

A Passionate Collaboration

Characterized by a juxtaposition of elements from popular culture – graffiti, cartoons, music and the world of television – and classical art, as well as by the use of symbols, logos and texts, these works will be unveiled in Paris from April 5 to August 28, 2023.

The most iconic work produced jointly by Basquiat and Warhol is “Olympic Rings” (1985) — an acrylic painting on canvas representing the Olympic rings surrounded by symbols and motifs unique to Basquiat’s universe. A work that reveals a dynamic and complex art, sold at auction in 2018 for 11.3 million dollars.

“The exhibition opens with a series of cross portraits, Basquiat by Warhol, Warhol by Basquiat. It continues with the first collaborations. Initiated by the gallery owner of the two artists, Bruno Bischofberger, these works benefit from the participation of the Italian painter Francesco Clemente (born in 1952).” After these fifteen works as a trio, Basquiat and Warhol continue their collaboration with enthusiasm and complicity, at an almost daily pace.

The energy and strength of their incessant exchanges will lead visitors along the way through all of the Foundation’s galleries, punctuated by major works such as the monumental sculpture Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper) or the 10-meter canvas of African Mask” notes the Louis Vuitton Foundation.

https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/fr/evenements/basquiat-x-warhol-a-quatre-mains