Sherna Noah had a story in the Irish Examiner about Adam Clayton of U2 fame who has a piece of art in his home that is expected to bring in €1.8 million at auction. It is a self- portrait of the artist Jean Michel Basquiat and one of its distinguishing features is a tear drop falling from the artist’s eye.
Experts have said that painting features his arms appearing “to pierce his body like an arrow”.
Another expert at Christie’s said: “Unlike other self-portraits by Basquiat, it articulates his fragility as a figure who is coming to terms with his new position in the world and injects the deepest pathos into the narrative of his dramatic trajectory from anonymous graffiti artist to international art superstar.”
What is this guy smoking? Parents all over the country are chucking scribbles like this into the recycling every night after their kids go to bed. They might spend some time clinging to the side of the fridge with the help of a magnet but eventually they are consigned to the bin.
‘The tear drop falling from the artist’s eye’ actually looks like the eye is after popping out but is held up by a spring. His head looks like it started out as a mug but then changed its mind but kept the handle.
The expert talks about his arms appearing “to pierce his body like an arrow”. What a knob – that’s the way kids draw arms and legs.
This is complete and total nonsense. Anybody who claims that this doodle is a fine piece of art worthy of a €1.8 million price tag has lost their grip on reality. Someone needs to start calling a spade a spade in the art world.
If this is a self- portrait then he obviously had a strange opinion of himself.