Philistines - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Archival giclée
Frames arrive ready to hang
Secure checkout
Made to order
Description
A powerful 1982 Neo-Expressionist work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, featuring skeletal figures and raw, gestural mark-making.
Philistines, executed in 1982, is a large-scale work that demonstrates the raw, gestural approach characteristic of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The composition features three central figures rendered in a skeletal, mask-like style. Basquiat employs a combination of acrylic paint and oilstick, creating a surface that balances aggressive mark-making with deliberate, layered colour fields. The figures possess wide, staring eyes and bared teeth, motifs that appear frequently throughout the artist's body of work to suggest themes of identity, power, and historical struggle.
The background is a chaotic arrangement of scribbles, cross-outs, and geometric shapes. These elements function as a visual shorthand, referencing urban graffiti and the frenetic energy of 1980s New York. Basquiat often incorporated text and anatomical diagrams into his paintings, and here, the skeletal structures of the figures serve to strip away the exterior, exposing the internal mechanics of the human form. The use of high-contrast colours, including bright yellow, deep red, and stark black, directs the viewer's attention across the canvas, preventing the eye from settling on a single point.
This work reflects the artist's interest in combining classical art historical references with contemporary street culture. By titling the piece Philistines, Basquiat invokes biblical narratives of conflict, reinterpreting them through a modern, personal lens. The application of paint is immediate and unrefined, with drips and smears left visible to document the physical process of creation. The work avoids traditional perspective, opting instead for a flattened, frontal arrangement that forces the viewer to confront the figures directly. It is a dense, layered composition that rewards close observation of its individual marks and the overall structural tension between the figures and their environment.
Return policy
Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
Shipping
We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Philistines - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Artist Biography
Jean Michel Basquiat
He had no formal art training. He dropped out of school at seventeen and slept on park benches and friends' floors. He sold hand-painted postcards and t-shirts. He gate-crashed a restaurant where the critic Henry Geldzahler was eating with Andy Warhol and handed them a postcard. Warhol bought one. The art world opened.
By twenty-one he was showing in galleries. By twenty-two he was the youngest artist ever invited to Documenta in Kassel. The paintings are dense, layered, furious: text fragments, anatomical drawings, crown symbols, crossed-out words, references to Black history, jazz, boxing, anatomy textbooks, and street signage. They look unplanned but they are not. The crossed-out words are deliberate. He wanted you to read them, then register the erasure.
He and Warhol collaborated on a series of paintings in 1984 and 1985. The relationship was complicated by the art market's tendency to treat Basquiat as Warhol's protege rather than his peer, and by the fact that Warhol, older and more established, got better reviews for the joint work. Basquiat pulled away.
He died of a heroin overdose in 1988, at twenty-seven. His paintings now sell for over 100 million dollars. He would have found that both satisfying and absurd.
Why Choose Us ?
Damage-free delivery guarantee
Fast Shipping
Museum-Quality Materials
You May Also Like