Jean-Michel Basquiat, Attributed: Blue Figure (Hands

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Attributed: Blue Figure (Hands
Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960 - 1988), Attributed: Blue Figure (Hands Up). Oil stick and graphite on paper, signed "SAMO" upper right. ‘Blue Man' contains instances of fingerprints on both the front and reverse of the work on repurposed paper. This item is accompanied by notarized documents of provenance.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's life and work are synonymous with New York City's East Village/NoHo art scene of the 1980s, the birthplace of Neo-expressionism, figuration, and the U.S. punk rock scene.
Basquiat attended the City-as-School High School in N.Y. City's West Village. It was a progressive approach to education founded upon the premise that students would discover experiential learning through internships and real-life experiences. Basquiat was expelled from the school in 1978.
Through his work with a theatre group called Family Life Theatre, Basquiat created a fictional character he called SAMO (Same Old Shit) who makes a living selling fake religion.
Basquiat met Al Diaz, a fellow student at City-as-School and a graffiti artist, and while hanging out in Washington Square Park, a half-mile walk from their high school. Basquiat and Diaz started began to spray paint aphorisms and graffiti with the SAMO tag along NYC's D train line and all around lower Manhattan.
After a falling out with Diaz, circa 1980, Basquiat began to create paintings on t-shirts, postcards, drawings, and collages, selling them in Washington Square. The postcard-size SAMO pieces were often executed on album covers cut to approximately 6 x 4 inches and sold on the street, literally, for a dollar or two apiece. These street sales were integral to Basquiat supporting both his survival and his drug habit.
It was through the sale of one of these ‘postcards' that Basquiat came to the awareness of Andy Warhol.
Kevin Doyle was an early supporter of Basquiat, often buying his street art at prices that exceeded Basquiat's asking price. For example, Doyle might give Basquiat $100 for pieces that totaled $10. Doyle has notarized a letter describing this particular pastel as a thank you piece from the artist to Doyle for his continued patronage at a time in Basquiat's development whereby his record-breaking future could not have possibly been foreseen.

12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches paper.

Reported to have been a gift from the artist to Kevin Doyle, Massachusetts; private collection Santa Barbara, California; T.J. Megale Dix Hills, New York Acquired from above in a private sale by the current owner, a California Gentleman.