Artist As Subject
images of artists by other artists
images of artists by other artists
(Portrait of Andy Warhol as a Banana)
1984
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
193 x 213 cm
Private collection, New York
© The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
From the web site of MOMA Lugano:
"Andy Warhol is shown as a banana in this portrait. It is only the unlikely silver wig that Warhol always wore in the eighties that identifies the image as being of him. Indeed the silver wig on any object would identify it as Warhol. 1984 was the first year in which Basquiat spent significant amounts of time with the older artist, having been finally formally introduced by Bruno Bischofberger at the end of 1982. In this picture Basquiat paints his friend in jest but also with great affection. There are a number of portraits the artists did of each other, but this one occupied a special place in Basquiat's heart. It was hung on a wall by itself in the Mary Boone Gallery exhibition of 1984, while the other paintings were jammed together on other walls, even though Boone had advised the artist to hang the show more sparsely."