Kings of Egypt III

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• Ugne asked

  What is the oil pastel-like material did he use for the painting? In some parts the blue used for the face looks melted into consistent paint.

• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

  Hello Ugne,
  Well spotted! The blue parts in this work by Basquiat are made with a so called oil stick, which is oil paint in a stick form similar to that of a crayon or pastel.
  Kind regards,
  Manus

• Rutger asked

  Waar kan het andere schilderij dan bewonderd worden, als het in jullie collectie zit… opgeslagen? Zonde!

• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

  Hi Rutger, Kings of Egypt II is vanaf november te zien op de tentoonstelling Flight into Egypt. Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now (November 12, 2024 - February 17, 2025) in het Metropolitan Museum in New York. Hartelijke groet, Els
  
  
  
  Beste,
  Mara

• 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