The painting Untilted was created in January 1982 while Basquiat was working and living in the basement of Annina Nosei Gallery who gave him his first solo show in March 82.

Annina Nosei sold the painting to the art collector Phoebe Chason for 5000 dollars who then sold it to Alexander Milliken founder of the eponymous Gallery. The painting was exhibited in that gallery in June 1982 in a group show titled Fast. The catalogue of the exhibition stated “The spontaneity of [Basquiat’s] brushstroke is not lost in the transition from city walls to canvas”.

The comment of Basquiat is based on an interview where he said “I wanted to make very direct paintings that most people would feel the emotion behind when they saw them” and then another quote “I don’t think about art while I work. I try to think about life.”

The art critic Glenn OBrien of Art Forum was an early supporter of Basquiat and wrote “He was the once in a lifetime real deal: artist as prophet”

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Sources: Annina Nosei Gallery  I Sothebys.com auction catalogue I  Basquiat-isms, Larry Warsh (2019)

Jean Michel direct painting, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 14" x 11" (36 x 28 cm)