Jean-Michel Basquiat — Tank For Sale

Tank

Tank is a unique 1981 work in oil pastel on paper, dating from the year widely regarded as the beginning of Basquiat's transition from the SAMO© graffiti project to a formal gallery career. He was included in the pivotal "New York/New Wave" exhibition at P.S. 1 that same year, which brought him to the attention of the dealers and collectors who would define his rapid rise. Works on paper from 1981 are comparatively rare within Basquiat's output and offer some of the clearest evidence of his working process at the exact moment his practice shifted from the street to the studio.

Oil pastel gave Basquiat a directness and immediacy well suited to this transitional period — a medium applied with the same gestural speed as spray paint or marker, but with the density and color saturation of a painting medium. Tank's subject matter, rendered with the raw, urgent line that would come to define his signature style, sits at the intersection of the graffiti sensibility he was leaving behind and the more art-historically engaged practice he was beginning to develop. Because so few works survive from this exact transitional year, pieces like Tank occupy a particularly desirable position for collectors focused on Basquiat's earliest studio-based output.

As a unique work on paper from this formative year, Tank offers direct insight into Basquiat's practice at its point of origin, before the gallery system and international attention that would follow within months — an authenticated opportunity for collectors seeking an early, historically significant piece.

Guy Hepner represents this unique early Basquiat work on paper for sale, with full provenance documentation. Collectors interested in acquiring this piece are welcome to contact our New York gallery to discuss availability.