LOT #23 in Sotheby's, New York Contemporary Art Spring 2009 Evening Sale

Estimate: $3,000,000 — $5,000,000

Signed, titled, and dated "Sept 1982" on the reverse.

The figure in Red Man One overwhelms the entire picture plane, a compositional motif used often by Basquiat. More than likely, this figure is a self-portrait of the artist, confronting the viewer with its penetrating gaze and aggressive stance. Several of the recurring symbols used by Basquiat appear in this work, painted at the height of his short career – his trademark crown, raw childlike graffiti, skull-like features, ring of thorns around the head, and an articulated skeletal form derived from the artist's interest in Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings.

Courtesy of Sotheby's, condensed and adapted