Jean-Michel Basquiat Portfolio II Series For Sale

1982 is widely regarded as the breakout year of Basquiat's career. His debut solo exhibition at Annina Nosei Gallery that March sold out completely, he became the youngest artist ever invited to documenta in Kassel, Germany, and by the end of the year he'd been introduced to Andy Warhol through dealer Bruno Bischofberger, the start of one of the defining friendships of his career. The four screenprints in Portfolio II, published between 1982 and 2004, all draw on paintings from this same extraordinary year, when Basquiat was still only twenty-one and working at a pace that would define the rest of his short career.

Charles the First's title tells only half the story. The print pays tribute to jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, nicknamed "Bird" and one of the founding figures of bebop, with Basquiat playing on Parker's first name to conjure the image of a king. Crowns, a reference to Thor, and a scattered S recalling Superman all elevate Parker to something closer to myth than musician, while the scrawled line "MOST YOUNG KINGS GET THEIR HEAD CUT OFF" carries a double meaning, referencing both the real execution of King Charles I in 1649 and Parker's own early death at thirty-four. Basquiat used this same move throughout his career, taking Black musicians, athletes and artists he admired and crowning them as royalty, and Charles the First is one of the clearest, most fully worked examples of it.

Cabeza, Jawbone of an Ass and Rome Pays Off complete the portfolio, each carrying Basquiat's familiar mix of scrawled text, crossed-out words and recurring symbols, the crown, the mask-like figure, layered onto compositions that move between personal reference and broader historical and cultural commentary. Together the four prints capture Basquiat at the exact moment his career accelerated, using history, language and music as raw material the same way he used paint.

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  • Jean-Michel Basquiat Portfolio II

    Explore the complete Portfolio II series or individual works for sale
    • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Portfolio II (Charles the First, Cabeza, Jawbone of an Ass, Rome Pays Off), 1982-2004
      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Portfolio II (Charles the First, Cabeza, Jawbone of an Ass, Rome Pays Off), 1982-2004
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    • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cabeza, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cabeza, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
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    • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rome Pays Off, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rome Pays Off, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
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    • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jawbone of an Ass, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jawbone of an Ass, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
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    • Jean-Michel Basquiat, Charles the First, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Charles the First, from Portfolio II, 1982-2004
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  • Basquiat portfolio ii for sale

    Basquiat Portfolio II

    An Overview

    Jean-Michel Basquiat Portfolio II was published by the estate in 2004, completing a pair with Portfolio I that collectors have pursued as a set ever since. The four prints — Charles the First, Cabeza, Rome Pays Off and Jawbone of an Ass — return to the 1983 paintings that defined Basquiat's commercial ascent, and together the two portfolios represent the most significant body of estate print work in circulation.

    Demand has only strengthened. Individual works now trade from approximately £65,000, with the most coveted titles regularly approaching £90,000. Charles the First set a new auction record at Christie's in March 2024, selling for $107,100 on its fourth appearance at auction, each sale surpassing the last. As with all estate editions, every work carries full authentication stamped by the artist's sisters.

  • Basquiat Print Prices 2026

    The Basquiat Market in 2026

    An Overview

    Jean-Michel Basquiat is among the most valuable artists ever to appear at auction. His imagery — crowns, anatomical figures, layered text, the collision of street culture and art history — has become part of the visual language of the last forty years, recognised and sought by collectors across generations and geographies. Demand has remained consistent and has reached the highest levels of the market: his 1982 Untitled sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's New York in May 2017, at the time a world record for an American artist, and In This Case (1983) achieved $93.1 million at Christie's New York in May 2021, with multiple other paintings crossing the $50 million threshold in recent seasons.

    His print catalogue divides into two distinct categories. Lifetime works — produced and signed by the artist during his career — carry direct studio provenance; the Anatomy series of 1982, printed in an edition of eighteen, has recorded average annual price growth of 9.67% across 38 auction appearances. Estate editions, published since 2001 and authenticated by the artist's sisters, vary in size and scope across each release. Individual works have traded at auction between £15,000 and over £135,000 depending on series and imagery. Recent results confirm the depth and breadth of demand: the Daros Suite peaked at £130,000 at Sotheby's New York in April 2025; a complete Anatomy set achieved £570,000 at Christie's in May 2026; and Printer's Proof examples from the Superhero Portfolio — released only in 2022 — were estimated at $150,000–$250,000 at Sotheby's in April 2025, confirming that even recent estate additions attract serious collector attention from the outset.

    The continuity of demand, the strength of the imagery and the depth of the market across every tier of his catalogue make Basquiat one of the most serious acquisitions a collector can make today.