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Liberty - Unsigned Print by Jean-Michel Basquiat 2017 - MyArtBroker

Liberty
Unsigned Print

Jean-Michel Basquiat

£30,000-£45,000Value Indicator

$60,000-$90,000 Value Indicator

$50,000-$80,000 Value Indicator

¥270,000-¥410,000 Value Indicator

35,000-50,000 Value Indicator

$290,000-$440,000 Value Indicator

¥5,770,000-¥8,660,000 Value Indicator

$35,000-$60,000 Value Indicator

-1% AAGR

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

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2017 screen print in colors on Somerset Satin. S. 56 x 76 cm (22 x 30 in.). Numbered in an edition of 50.

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Track auction value trend

The value of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Liberty, a screenprint from 2017, is estimated to be worth between £30,000 and £45,000. In the last 12 months, there have been no sales. However, over the past five years, the hammer price has varied from £15,000 in June 2021 to £38,341 in April 2022. This work has shown a consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 1%. Liberty is a rare artwork with an auction history of 5 total sales since its entry to the market in March 2019. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 50.

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Auction Results

Auction DateAuction HouseLocation
Hammer Price
Return to Seller
Buyer Paid
April 2022Wright United States
April 2022Sotheby's New York United States
June 2021Tate Ward Auctions United Kingdom
September 2020Christie's London United Kingdom
March 2019Poly Auction Hong Kong Limited Hong Kong

Meaning & Analysis

Typical of Basquiat’s graffiti-inspired style throughout the 1980s, Liberty is one of his most visually compelling works of the decade. The work is essentially split into two halves, with small drawings and annotations to the left of the composition that gradually merge into the chaotic red on the right. The work makes frequent references to the word ‘Liberty’, and even references ex-president of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt in the small strip at the centre of the work. The broken nature of the work alludes not only to the fragmentation of the individual, but perhaps also of the deep-set socio-political divisions in 1980s America.

Throughout the work, Basquiat reveals his fascination with anatomy. Two sketches of the human head appear in the composition with scientific annotations. To the far right of the work, a loosely articulated hip bone and femur appear above a gun’s view-finder and next to a hanging stick-figure. As your eye is drawn from left to right, the work therefore becomes increasingly violent and traumatic, making a mockery of the title Liberty. Like many of Basquiat’s works from this era, the chaotic composition is open to the viewer’s interpretation but scrutinises the fragmentation of society at large.

  • Jean-Michel Basquiat's unique visual style has dominated the Urban Art scene, securing his status as one of the most successful African-American street artists of the 20th Century. Addressing themes of race, identity and culture within his expressive works, his distinctive painterly style and use of child-like iconography changed the course of art history forever. Artworks such as Undiscovered Genius place controversial subjects at the forefront of his narrative. Despite his tragically premature death at the age of 27, Basquiat's impact on the art scene is exemplified through the increase of his market value in the years since.

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