View source for Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta

{{Short description|1983 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta
| image = Undiscovered-Genius-of-the-Mississippi-Delta-1983.jpg
| image_size = 500px
| artist = [[Jean-Michel Basquiat]]
| medium = Acrylic, oilstick and paper collage on five joined canvases
| movement = [[Neo-expressionism]]
| height_imperial = 49
| width_imperial = 185 1/2
| museum = Private collection
| city =
}}
'''''Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta''''' is a painting created by American artist [[Jean-Michel Basquiat]] in 1983. Spanning over 15 feet, the artwork is an assessment of select [[African-American history|African American history]]. The painting sold for $23.7 million at [[Sotheby's]] contemporary art evening auction in May 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=AO Recap – Sotheby's Contemporary Evening Sale, Wednesday May 14th, 2014|url=http://artobserved.com/2014/05/ao-recap-sothebys-contemporary-evening-sale-wednesday-may-14th-2014/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Art Observed|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Embuscado|first=Rain|date=May 16, 2016|title=Basquiat's Most Expensive Works at Auction|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/jean-michel-basquiat-most-expensive-works-2016-496796|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=artnet News|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Analysis==
The title, ''Undiscovered genius of the Mississippi Delta'', and the banner at the top of the painting, "THE [[Deep South|DEEP SOUTH]] 1912-1936-1951," hint at the meaning of the entwined text and images. The words "MISSISSIPPI" and "[[Negro|NEGROES]]" are each repeated three times in a row, "a sonic echo of insistence and emphasis."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wolfe|first=Shira|date=July 1, 2020|title=Iconic Artworks: Basquiat's Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta|url=https://magazine.artland.com/iconic-artworks-basquiats-undiscovered-genius-of-the-mississippi-delta/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Artland Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> As art critic Francesco Pellizzi observed, "His use of words, however, belongs more to the ''oral'' traditions of Afro-American cultures—the ecstatic invocations of [[Louisiana Voodoo|Voodoo]] worshipers; the inflamed and inflaming spiritual rhetoric of [[Baptists|Baptist]] preachers with their rousing, recurring, rhythmic juxtapositions of ethical, [[cosmological]], and practical tenets; and, of course, now, black rap…"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat, Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta t|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/contemporary-art-evening-sale-n09141/lot.20.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Sotheby's}}</ref> Another repeated word is "[[Mark Twain|MARK TWAIN]]," whose book ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' is noted for its satire on racism as the protagonist travels along the [[Mississippi River]].
Grégoire Billault, a senior VP at [[Sotheby's]] explained the significance of the artwork in an interview with the ''[[HuffPost]]'': "By coupling the symbols and phrases most closely associated with the African American story with the abstract expressionist painterly technique in the multi-panel format, Jean-Michel Basquiat created an exceptional masterpiece of history painting."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brooks|first=Katherine|date=April 30, 2014|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat Creates His Own Racial History In 'Undiscovered Genius Of The Mississippi Delta'|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/undiscovered-genius-of-the-mississippi-delta_n_5234962|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref>
==Exhibitions==
''Undiscovered genius of the Mississippi Delta'' has been exhibited at major art institutions worldwide, which include:
* ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at Vrej Baghoomian Gallery in New York, October–November 1989.<ref name=":0" />
* ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at [[Whitney Museum of American Art]] in New York, October 1992–February 1993;<ref name=":0" /> The [[Menil Collection]] in Houston, March–May 1993;<ref name=":0" /> [[Des Moines Art Center]] in Iowa, May–August 1993;<ref name=":0" /> [[Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts]] in Alabama, November 1993–January 1994.<ref name=":0" />
* ''Jean-Michel Basquiat'' at [[Serpentine Galleries|Serpentine Gallery]] in London, March–April 1996;<ref name=":0" /> Palacio Episcopal de Málaga in Spain, May–July 1996.<ref name=":0" />
* ''Basquiat'' at the [[Brooklyn Museum]] in New York, March 11–June 2005;<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Brooklyn Museum: Basquiat|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/basquiat|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref> [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles]], July–October 2005;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Basquiat: A Major Retrospective - Museum of Contemporary Art, LA - Absolutearts.com|url=https://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2005/07/18/33164.html|access-date=2020-10-02|website=www.absolutearts.com}}</ref> [[Museum of Fine Arts, Houston]], November 2005–February 2006.<ref name=":0" />
* ''Basquiat'' at [[Fondation Beyeler]] in Switzerland, May–September 2010;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat at Fondation Beyeler|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/previews/201005/jean-michel-basquiat-25525|access-date=2020-10-02|website=www.artforum.com|language=en-US}}</ref> [[Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris|Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris]], October 2010–January 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Basquiat|url=https://www.mam.paris.fr/en/expositions/exhibitions-basquiat|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Musée d’Art Moderne de Pari|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Blues for Smoke'' at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, February–April 2013;<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Blues for Smoke|url=https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/BluesForSmoke|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Whitney Museum of Art|language=en}}</ref> Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, October 2012–January 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Blues for Smoke|url=https://www.moca.org/exhibition/blues-for-smoke|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=The Museum of Contemporary Art}}</ref>
*The painting is listed in the catalogue for the ''Basquiat and the Bayou'' exhibit at the [[Ogden Museum of Southern Art]] in New Orleans (October 2014–January 2015), but it wasn't included in the installation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=d'Addario|first=John|date=October 30, 2014|title=Basquiat in the American South|url=https://hyperallergic.com/158724/basquiat-in-the-american-south/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-10|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat]]
==References==
<references />
{{Jean-Michel Basquiat}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta}}
[[Category:Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat]]
[[Category:1983 paintings]]
[[Category:Animals in art]]
[[Category:Rivers in art]]
[[Category:Works about the Mississippi River]]