Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960–1988)
Title: Flexible
Date: 1984 (original composition); 2016 (screenprint)
Medium: 24-color posthumous screenprint on 100% cotton museum board
Dimensions: 153 × 116 cm (60¼ × 45⅝ in.), unframed
Edition of 85
Publisher: Flatiron Editions, New York, 2016
Authentication: Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat certification label affixed to the verso, signed by estate administrators Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux
Condition: Good; professional condition report available
Provenance: Acquired through MyArtBroker; European private collection
Location: Europe
Price: on request
About the Artwork
Few artists captured the raw energy, cultural complexity, and restless creativity of late-20th-century New York quite like Jean-Michel Basquiat. His celebrated Flexible, originally conceived in 1984, is among his most recognizable compositions, presenting a monumental figure whose elongated arms form a powerful arch above its head.
Rendered in expressive strokes of black, green, red, yellow, and white, the figure recalls the tradition of the West African griot—a storyteller and custodian of cultural memory. Its skeletal anatomy, mask-like features, and commanding presence reflect Basquiat’s fascination with African heritage, spirituality, identity, and the human condition.
The composition combines an almost primitive immediacy with remarkable sophistication. Basquiat’s gestural lines, anatomical references, and layered markings create a figure that appears simultaneously ancient and contemporary, vulnerable and defiant.
Originally executed in acrylic and oilstick on wooden fence slats, the 1984 painting achieved $45.3 million at Phillips, New York, in May 2018, underscoring the significance of the composition within Basquiat’s celebrated body of work.
The Estate Edition
This monumental screenprint was published in 2016 by Flatiron Editions, New York, as an authorized posthumous edition of 85 impressions.
Executed in 24 colors on substantial cotton museum board, the edition faithfully translates the distinctive textures, energetic mark-making, and striking visual presence of the original composition into a large-format print.
The present impression, numbered edition of 85 in pencil, bears an Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat certification label on the reverse, signed by estate administrators Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux.
At approximately five feet tall, Flexible possesses an imposing physical presence, making it particularly compelling in contemporary residential, corporate, and institutional collections.
