by 
On October 4, 1982, when the painting “Two Heads” was painted, Jean-Michel Basquiat first met his idol. Of course, before that he had seen Warhol more than once, and the master himself had heard a lot about a street artist who signed the pseudonym SAMO and painted T-shirts, and even met him several times on the streets of New York. So it would be more correct to say that on this day Jean-Michel Basquiat was officially introduced to Andy Warhol.
Their meeting was organized by art dealer Bruno Bischofberger. Basquiat even sold a couple of his postcards to Warhol. They spent very little time in each other’s company. Warhol took several pictures of Jean-Michel with his famous Polaroid camera, and Basquiat asked to be filmed together, and then quickly took his leave. And after some couple of hours his assistant delivered the painting Two Heads, depicting both artists, to Warhol’s Factory. Basquiat wrote himself in his characteristic primitivist, almost cartoonish style (a wide smile and erect hair literally radiate happiness from meeting the king of pop art). It is interesting that at the same time Warhol is depicted in a completely different technique, his portrait is very naturalistic, although it is written with just a few strokes.
The painting delivered to Warhol was still completely damp, of course, the paints would not have had time to dry in such a short time. But for Jean-Michel it was not so important. As well as the fact that the assistant had to practically run a dozen blocks with a painting in his hands, because it did not fit into a taxi. Nevertheless, Basquiat still achieved what he hoped for – he made an impression on Andy Warhol himself. One can imagine the speed with which Basquiat wrote, because both he and his assistant still needed time on the road. On that day, Warhol, looking at the unexpected gift in front of the entire Factory, said: “He works faster than me. I’m really jealous. ” And from the same day their friendship began.
Year of painting: 1982.
Painting dimensions: 152.5 x 152.5 cm
Material: canvas.
Writing technique: acrylic, crayon.
Genre: figurative painting.
Style: neo-expressionism.
Gallery: private collection.
