Executed in 1977, this remarkably early drawing offers a glimpse into Basquiat’s developing visual language. A glamorous female face, rising sun, sparse landscape, and small image of Venus coexist across the sheet with the graphic immediacy of advertising, fashion illustration, and comics. Rather than forming a conventional narrative, these disparate elements operate through juxtaposition—a strategy that would become fundamental to Basquiat’s mature work.

The image of Venus is particularly notable, appearing here years before the artist would return to the figure as part of his evolving vocabulary of art-historical and personal references. Created in the same year that Basquiat and Al Diaz began developing SAMO, the drawing reveals an instinct already central to Basquiat’s practice: bringing popular culture, art history, and personal symbolism into direct conversation.