{"product_id":"1000-piece-jean-michel-basquiat-untitled-julius-caesar-on-gold-jigsaw-puzzle","title":"1000-piece Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold) Jigsaw Puzzle","description":"\u003ch3\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003ePiece Together a King 👑🧩\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ePainted in 1981, \u003cem\u003eUntitled (Julius Caesar on Gold)\u003c\/em\u003e comes from the turning point of Basquiat’s career. Only a short time earlier, he had been the anonymous street poet behind the SAMO tag, scrawling cryptic lines across downtown Manhattan. By 1981 he was a rising force in the contemporary art world, and this canvas captures that leap in a single blaze of gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAt its centre stands a dark, skeletal warrior outlined in stark white, crowned with Basquiat’s signature three-pointed crown. A sword is raised in one hand. A trident-like emblem, evoking gladiatorial combat, is held in the other. The ribcage is drawn as a tangle of looping lines, a motif traced back to Basquiat’s childhood fascination with \u003cem\u003eGray’s Anatomy\u003c\/em\u003e, the medical textbook he was given as a boy. It is power and fragility in one figure. 💪\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 dir=\"ltr\"\u003eFascinating Facts to Share Over the Puzzle Table ☕\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe crown is a statement.\u003c\/strong\u003e Basquiat used it to elevate Black figures into kings, saints and heroes, rewriting a story that Western art history had long told with white monarchs and generals.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe title is a provocation.\u003c\/strong\u003e Pairing Roman imperial authority with a Black protagonist subverts classical heroism and reclaims it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGold carries multiple meanings.\u003c\/strong\u003e It echoes Byzantine icons and medieval altarpieces, but also the wealth of empire and Basquiat’s own complicated relationship with the art market.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA tragic hero stands in the frame.\u003c\/strong\u003e Like Caesar, who fell to betrayal, this warrior looks triumphant yet precariously exposed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe materials are raw.\u003c\/strong\u003e Gold paint, acrylic and oilstick combine violent, immediate mark-making with the discipline of fine art composition.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003eCompleted, \u003cstrong\u003ethe puzzle measures a generous 25.6\" x 25.6\" (65 cm x 65 cm)\u003c\/strong\u003e, echoing the \u003cstrong\u003esquare shape\u003c\/strong\u003e of the original canvas and giving that golden warrior real presence on the table. 📐\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rest In Pieces","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56986186514818,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0491\/4370\/9856\/files\/jean-michel-basquiat-untitled-julius-caesar-on-gold-jigsaw-puzzle.jpg?v=1792371984","url":"https:\/\/www.restinpieces.co.uk\/products\/1000-piece-jean-michel-basquiat-untitled-julius-caesar-on-gold-jigsaw-puzzle","provider":"Rest In Pieces","version":"1.0","type":"link"}