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  • Posts Tagged ‘Yoko Ono’

    YOKO ONO’S BASQUIAT AT SOTHEBY’S

    Saturday, September 30th, 2017

    Jean Michel Basquiat – Cabra  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $11 MILLION

    Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Cabra from the collection of Yoko Ono comes up at Sotheby’s Contemporary art evening sale in New York on November 16.  The 1981-82 work, measuring 60 1/4 by 60 1/4 inches, is estimated to bring $9/12 million. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will benefit the Spirit Foundations, founded by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, in the 1970’s.

    Yoko Ono commented:  “I have had the pleasure of owning and living with this masterwork for over two decades. The time has come for it to find a new home, and I am delighted that part of the sale proceeds will benefit the foundation I established years ago with the intention of bringing peace and tolerance to the world.”

    Executed at a time when Basquiat was exploring his Haitian and Puerto Rican roots, and becoming increasingly interested in the power of black athletes Cabra is from a group of paintings inspired by boxing icons including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Jersey Joe Walcott.   Cabra refers to the evening in 1970 when Muhammad Ali – the greatest of all time – knocked out revered heavy-weight fighter Oscar Bonavena known as ‘The Bull’. The iconic boxing ring, the hieroglyphic ‘TKO’ above the bull’s skull and, finally, the clever play on words – Cabra is Spanish for ‘goat’ or GOAT, shorthand for the Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali – all add to this moving painting of one of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s long-time heroes.

    Spirit Foundations was founded in 1978 to promote a message of social advancement through collective peace and tolerance. Devotedly carried on after John Lennon’s passing in 1980, Spirit Foundations remains a charitable organization that works as an agent of positive social change