Guy Hepner Gallery

Jean-Michel Basquiat The Figure Portfolio For Sale

Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat - The Figure Portfolio, 1982 - 2023, A series of five hand-pulled limited edition screen prints

The Figure Portfolio, 1982 - 2023

A series of five hand-pulled limited edition screen prints

48 x 32 in (each) 121.9 x 81.3 cm (each)

Edition

Edition of 85

About this work

The Figure Portfolio is a series of five screen prints released by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2023 and published by Flatiron Editions. Each work is numbered, bears the Estate stamp and features the signatures of Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, the artist’s sisters and current administrators of the Estate. Recognized for his role as a political and poetic graffiti artist, Basquiat's artistic repertoire embodies a Neo-Expressionist and Primitivist aesthetic. Through a fusion of words and symbols, Basquiat conveys facets of his cultural heritage as a form of social commentary addressing issues of racial segregation and societal isolation.

Price on Application

Auction History

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Thin in the Old

Thin in the Old · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Sotheby's · 2026-03 · $8,157,711

Jean-Michel Basquiat - The Offs (Clear Vinyl)

The Offs (Clear Vinyl) · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Bonhams · 2025-04 · $960

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Sabado por la Noche (Saturday Night)

Sabado por la Noche (Saturday Night) · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Christie's · 2025-03 · $1,849,653

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Arteries of the Left Arm

Arteries of the Left Arm · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Phillips · 2024-11 · $889,000

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Derelict · Jean-Michel Basquiat · Sotheby's · 2024-06 · $27,320,497

More from this series

More series by Jean-Michel Basquiat

About the The Figures Portfolio Series

The Figure Portfolio Series

The Figure Portfolio stands as one of Jean-Michel Basquiat's most significant print editions, capturing the raw urgency and visual poetry that defined his meteoric career at its apex. Created in 1982—a watershed year when Basquiat transitioned from underground sensation to international art world phenomenon—this portfolio represents a rare opportunity to acquire museum-quality works from the artist's most creatively fertile period. The series comprises five powerful compositions that distill Basquiat's signature visual language: fractured anatomies, cryptic text fragments, crown motifs, and skeletal forms that simultaneously reference African masks, Gray's Anatomy, and the streets of downtown Manhattan.

Executed with Basquiat's characteristic gestural intensity, each piece in The Figure Portfolio demonstrates the artist's masterful command of line, color, and symbolic layering. The works showcase his ability to synthesize influences ranging from bebop jazz and comic books to primitive art and medical illustration into a wholly original aesthetic vocabulary. The screen-print medium allowed Basquiat to maintain the immediate, spontaneous quality of his drawing while reaching a broader collector base—a democratizing impulse that aligned with his street art origins. The 2023 edition date reflects the posthumous publication of these works, making them among the most accessible entry points for collectors seeking authenticated Basquiat pieces in an increasingly rarefied market.

The collectability and market significance of The Figure Portfolio cannot be overstated. With Basquiat's original paintings now commanding eight and nine-figure sums at auction and residing predominantly in museum collections, authorized print editions offer serious collectors a pathway to acquire genuine works bearing the artist's iconic imagery. Each print carries the weight of Basquiat's enduring influence on contemporary art, street culture, and the broader cultural conversation around race, identity, and creative expression. As institutions continue to mount major retrospectives and scholarship deepens around his brief but revolutionary career, demand for authenticated Basquiat works across all media continues to strengthen.

For collectors seeking to acquire works from The Figure Portfolio series, Guy Hepner offers authenticated pieces with complete provenance documentation and expert guidance on this important edition.

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The Figure 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.

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