Anatomy
18 works
Jean-Michel Basquiat Leeches For Sale
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Leeches, 1982/83-2017
Screen print
22 x 30 in55.9 x 76.2 cm
Edition
Edition of 50 plus 20 AP
About this work
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Leeches, from the Daros Suite, is a visceral and uncompromising exploration of exploitation, dependency, and systemic decay. Dominated by a turbulent blue ground, the composition is crowded with anatomical diagrams, handwritten text, and aggressive blacked-out forms that create an atmosphere of compression and unease.At the center, a profile head rendered in raw reds and yellows appears partially dissected, its interior exposed like a medical illustration. Tubes, arrows, and notations connect the head to surrounding text and symbols, suggesting extraction and invasion rather than healing. Repeated references to parasites, fleas, boric acid, and dehydration reinforce the metaphor of bodies—both literal and social—being drained of value. Language functions as both explanation and accusation, scrawled urgently and often crossed out, as if censored or contested in real time.Black voids interrupt the surface, acting as erasures or blind spots that deny clarity and resolution. These voids heighten the sense of imbalance, while symbols of power and currency—charts, circles, and references to “POWER + MONEY (VALUE)”—underscore Basquiat’s critique of economic systems that profit from weakness and dependence. The tension between “FLESH” and “SPIRIT,” recurring across the Daros Suite, situates the work within a broader meditation on what is consumed and what survives.In Leeches, Basquiat transforms the medical and biological into political metaphor. The screen print preserves the urgency of his hand while clarifying the graphic intensity of the imagery, resulting in a work that is both intellectually ferocious and emotionally charged—a stark indictment of parasitic structures embedded within society. For more information on Jean Michel Basquiat's Leeches for sale, contact our New York and London galleries using the form below.
Price on Application
Auction History
Ascent, Leeches, Liberty, and Olympic (four works) · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Heritage Auctions · 2019-07 · $58,750
More from this series
More series by Jean-Michel Basquiat
About the Daros Suite Series
Daros Suite
Daros Suite stands as one of the rarest and most historically significant print portfolios in Jean-Michel Basquiat's catalogue—a sequence of six silkscreen works created between 1982 and 1983 for the prestigious Daros Collection in Zurich, Switzerland. Basquiat was just 21 to 22 years old when he produced these works, operating at the absolute peak of his meteoric rise through the New York art world. The suite encompasses major titles including Olympic, Leeches, Liberty, and Untitled, each bearing the explosive visual grammar—crowns, arrows, crossed-out words, skeletal anatomies, and hieroglyphic marks—that defined his singular practice. Produced in a deliberately small edition, the Daros Suite was conceived not for mass distribution but for institutional permanence, giving it an inherent scarcity that amplifies its market significance.
Technically, the works are executed as silkscreen prints that faithfully translate Basquiat's raw, gestural mark-making into the print medium without sanitising its urgency. The suite's thematic concerns are characteristically layered: Olympic and Liberty engage directly with American mythology, athleticism, and the political economy of Black identity in the United States, while Leeches extends his critique of exploitation and commerce into more visceral territory. Each work functions as a compressed archive of Basquiat's intellectual preoccupations—the tension between canonical art history and street culture, between the celebrated Black body and its systemic commodification. With 20 confirmed monthly searches per print, each individual work in the suite has established its own organic search presence, underlining the depth of collector and scholarly interest.
The Daros Suite occupies a uniquely coveted position in the Basquiat print market. Basquiat's estate is tightly managed, authenticated works are finite in number, and the institutional provenance of this portfolio—created for a major European collection at the height of his career—adds a layer of art historical authority that distinguishes it from later posthumous editions. For serious collectors, these prints represent an unambiguous blue-chip acquisition: works made by one of the most important artists of the 20th century during his most consequential period, in a format designed from the outset for institutional significance. Auction performance for Basquiat prints continues to strengthen as demand from both established and emerging collectors consistently outpaces supply.
Guy Hepner specializes in authenticated prints from Basquiat's most significant series, including available works from the rare Daros Suite portfolio.
About Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat prints for sale at Guy Hepner include works from the Estate editions: Portfolio I, Portfolio II, the Anatomy series, Daros Suite, Superhero Portfolio, and Figures Portfolio. Basquiat original art for sale and Basquiat paintings for sale through our New York gallery are authenticated with full Estate provenance and catalogue documentation.
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) remains one of the most powerful and sought-after artists in the history of contemporary art. A self-taught Neo-Expressionist who rose from the streets of Brooklyn to the highest echelons of the international art world, Basquiat's work commands extraordinary prices at auction and continues to attract serious collectors worldwide.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Paintings For Sale
Basquiat paintings for sale represent some of the most coveted works on the secondary market. His large-scale canvases — raw, urgent, and densely layered with text, symbols, and anatomical imagery — sell for tens of millions of dollars at the world's leading auction houses. The benchmark for Basquiat original art was set in May 2017 when Untitled (1982), depicting a skull-like head in yellow, red, and black, sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's New York, making it the sixth-highest price ever achieved for an American artist at that time.
At Guy Hepner, Basquiat art for sale includes a curated selection of works on paper, rare prints, and portfolios from The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Basquiat Prints For Sale
Basquiat prints represent a more accessible entry point for collectors who want to buy Basquiat without competing at major auction. His limited-edition screenprints and lithographs — produced in collaboration with publishers during his lifetime and authorised posthumously by The Estate — retain strong value and are actively traded on the secondary market.
Among the most collected Basquiat print series available at Guy Hepner:
- Daros Suite — a landmark body of works on paper that documented Basquiat's mature Neo-Expressionist language
- Anatomy series — visceral explorations of the Black body, medicine, and power
- Portfolio I & II — seminal print portfolios featuring signature motifs including crowns, SAMO© tags, and anatomical diagrams
- Superhero Portfolio — bold, iconic images that recast Black figures as mythological heroes
- Figures Portfolio — expressive figure studies that trace Basquiat's gestural line from street art to fine art
- 50 Cent Piece — a graphic, politically charged print emblematic of Basquiat's engagement with race, value, and American currency
Basquiat: What to Collect
For new collectors approaching Basquiat art for sale, prints and works on paper offer the strongest combination of accessibility and long-term value. Auction data shows consistent demand across all price tiers, with rare portfolios and artist-proof editions commanding significant premiums over standard editions.
Collectors who buy Basquiat should prioritise:
- Provenance — documented chain of ownership back to The Estate or original publisher
- Edition size — smaller editions and unique works on paper carry greater scarcity value
- Condition — works in fresh condition with original framing or storage documentation
- Series significance — iconic motifs (crowns, skulls, SAMO, anatomical text) consistently outperform peripheral works
Basquiat original art in any medium is a long-term store of cultural and financial value. His place in the canon of twentieth-century art is unassailable, and institutional demand for major works continues to grow.
Basquiat Crown Symbol
The crown is Jean-Michel Basquiat's most enduring symbol — appearing in over 100 of his paintings and prints as a mark of royalty, genius, and cultural reclamation. Basquiat crowns appear across his most celebrated works: the Three-Pointed Crown motif from Untitled (Crown), Charles the First, Hollywood Africans, and the Daros Suite. When collectors search for Basquiat crown prints for sale, these estate-stamped editions — particularly the Portfolio I and II series — are the closest available equivalents to his painted crown imagery.
Basquiat Authentication
All Basquiat art for sale at Guy Hepner has been reviewed for provenance and authenticity. The primary authentication body for Basquiat's estate is The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, which manages the artist's legacy and provides authentication services for works of sufficient documentation.
Collectors seeking to buy Basquiat prints or works on paper should always request a full provenance record, certificate of authenticity, and condition report. Guy Hepner provides all documentation with every sale and can assist collectors in navigating The Estate's authentication process for significant acquisitions.