Copyright

Pallas and Arachne (1636-37)Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Purchase

Pay attention to the position of the woman beating the other one up.


Apollo and Pan by Jacob Jordaens - Bare in mind the colours of the clothes they are wearing in this painting and how many they are.




Untitled, 1984, Basquiat

Las Meninas, 1656, Velásquez (my father told me his mother was portuguese... and that would be a wonderful explanation for this title)

The top of this Basquiat was impossible to interpret until a couple of days ago. I finally found the paintings Velásquez had on the top wall. As you can see the "red and orange", the copyright symbols and indigo make much more sense after we know what is on the canvas on the top right corner of the wall.

The position of the kangaroo woman, the words "aboriginal generative" and the other copyright become obvious and add another dimension to Basquiat's interpretation and anachronisms.

Maybe each copyright in Basquiat stands next to a painting inside a painting from someone else. It’s a piss take possibly on the fact that he is interpreting a great master as well.

You can ask me why I care about these things and can only answer that I do... I believe the explanation is somehow in this Woody Allen sentence:

TV or not TV?