Kings of Egypt III

Jean-Michel Basquiat (in 1982)

Ask anything

Lucie asked

What is the artwork about?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Hi Lucie,

Kings of Egypt is a series of three paintings in which Basquiat invokes the power of the Egyptian kingdom and its rulers in a double metaphor. On the one hand, the absolutism and prestige of the Egyptian pharaohs (especially in reference to Ramses II in the second painting of the series, also in the Boijmans collection) often reconsidered by historiography as presumptuous and selfish, which Basquiat interprets to criticise contemporary society of the 1980s, destined like the pharaohs to collapse ruinously. The second interpretation that gives us a better understanding of the work is the result of the revisionist commitment of a politically active artist in the United States who analyses and challenges the political and social dichotomies of the time: specifically, in the Kings of Egypt series Basquiat intends to reclaim the narrative of the pharaohs as prestigious antecedents of Western and white culture and instead reconvey it as ancestral heritage of Black history.
Visually, however, you can see how hieroglyphic-like symbols (in the upper right corner in particular) intersect with the striking impact of graffiti visual tradition.

Best, Mara
Constantin Dragomir asked

can it be seen today 16.04.2023?
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

Hi Constantin, I just answered this together with your previous question: yes Kings of Egypt III is on show in room A3.08. Best, Els

Thank you. Your question has been submitted.

Unfortunately something has gone wrong while sending your question. Please try again.

Request high-res image

More information

Read aloud

Basquiat’s work was anchored in graffiti culture with its tags and street language, but he also referred to modern art, famous African Americans and his own background, often with a healthy dollop of social criticism. From 1980 Basquiat was a rising star in New York. In 1982 Delta was the first gallery to show his work in the Netherlands. Sonnenberg sees Basquiat as ‘a historical continuation in the line of Jean Dubuffet, Cobra and Willem de Kooning’.

Collection book

Order

Specifications

Title	Kings of Egypt III
Material and technique	Oil on canvas
Object type	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Height 183,5 cm Width 183,5 cm Depth 4,5 cm
Artists	Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat
Accession number	3687 (MK)
Credits	Bruikleen Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Schenking Hans Sonnenberg, 2012
Department	Modern Art
Acquisition date	2012
Creation date	in 1982
Collector	Collector / Hans Sonnenberg
Entitled parties	© Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. c/o Pictoright Amsterdam, 2022
Internal exhibitions	Meneer Delta, een galeriehouder en verzamelaar in het museum (2012)
External exhibitions	Power Mask. The Power of Masks (2017) Basquiat - The Artist and his New York Scene (2019) Boijmans bij de Buren - Meesterlijk! (2019) BASQUIAT. Of Symbols and Signs (2022)
Material	Canvas > Worked fibres > Fibre > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique Oil > Paint > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Painting > Painting > Two-dimensional object > Art object

Do you have corrections or additional information about this work? Please, send us a message

All about the artist

Jean-Michel Basquiat

New York 1960 - New York 1988

Jean Michel Basquiat's mother was Puerto Rican and his father was of Haitian descent. In 1977, Basquiat began spraying graffiti on the walls of Manhattan, where...

Bekijk het volledige profiel