Artists

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Press release

Venus, morning star, sweet potato, I have the silver and you have the gold.
—Jean-Michel Basquiat

Basquiat saw the world differently. He had a great grasp of the history of art and visual culture and was brilliant at bringing the past to life in his paintings. His work reminds us of the common chords and resonances of beauty and identity throughout art history. Seeing his painting in dialogue with this ancient Venus sculpture reminds us of the enduring energy and sophistication of his work.
—Larry Gagosian

Gagosian is pleased to announce Venus, a pairing of two rarely seen masterpieces from different millennia: Untitled (1982), a significant painting from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s acclaimed Modena series, is shown in dialogue with an Imperial Roman sculpture of the goddess Venus loaned from the Torlonia Collection in Rome, the world’s largest private collection of Roman art. This is Gagosian’s eleventh exhibition dedicated to Basquiat and demonstrates the gallery’s ongoing commitment to the artist’s legacy.

Highlighting how Venus has been a muse across centuries, the exhibition is on view from October 17 at Gagosian’s gallery at 9 rue de Castiglione and offers an uncommon gallery setting for classical and contemporary masterworks in central Paris.