Untitled (Flag)
- Created by
- Basquiat, Jean-Michel, American, 1960 - 1988
- Date
- 1979-1980
- On ViewCulture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
- Museum MapsObjects in this Location
- Exhibition
- Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
- Medium
- watercolor, gouache and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (artwork): 3 3/8 × 5 1/4 in. (8.6 × 13.3 cm)
- H x W x D (framed): 13 7/8 × 16 1/8 × 1 5/8 in. (35.2 × 41 × 4.1 cm)
- Description
- This is a small, painted rendition of the American flag on a crumpled piece of paper, with the flag reaching to all four edges of the paper. Instead of a blue block with stars in the upper left quadrant, there is a blue block with one single white “X” painted inside of it. Both the blue paint and the white “X” appear to have been done with gouache paint. The white “X” is partially faded.
- There are nine, red, horizontal stripes in watercolor on this flag. The lowest ninth red stripe is fragmented and not as densely painted as the others.
- The artist has also used a typewriter to type upper case black “X” s across the striped portion of the piece. There are 10 horizontal rows of “X” s. The “X” s in the bottom row of the piece are scattered.
- Framed with an inset mat, the flag does not lie flat, but as it would naturally due to the crumpled and textured paper.
- Place made
- New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Type
- watercolors
- Topic
- Art
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, From the Alexis Adler Archive
- Object number
- 2019.92
- Restrictions & Rights
- © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Permission required for use.
3 image(s)