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Art Historian's Analysis:
       "The large white head that we see at the center of Catalogue Number 27 has been drawn on a black ground that partially covers the surface of the cardboard used for this painting. We can assume that it is partly animal from the peaked ears that arise from the white center on either side of the head. The eyes have been drawn in concentric circles in several colors —green, yellow, orange, blue, and purple. These colors are repeated in the repetitive outlining of the figure’s open mouth, inside of which we see two rows of carefully drawn teeth along the top and bottom. The bridge of the nose is drawn simply with two blue, narrowly-spaced parallel lines that terminate in an oval shape punctuated by two circles to represent nostrils; the resulting shape —read in conjunction with the pointed ears at the top of the head —appears more like a snout than a nose. There are several examples in the known works of Basquiat where the nostrils of the nose are positioned in a similar fashion (e.g., Head of a Madman) and the eyes have been circled multiple times in different colors (e.g., Hannibal and Dustheads).
Conclusion: Based on the observation of similarities in the rendering of eyes, nose, and mouth in Catalogue Number 27 with known works by Jean-Michel Basquiat in conjunction with the positive identification of handwriting by expert Jim Blanco, it is my professional opinion that this work is consistent with the hand of Jean-Michel Basquiat and may be attributed to him." - Dr Jordana Moore Saggese
Basquiat's Colleague's Analysis:
       "Playfully inspired by the white, left behind after using the board to clean his brush, this drawing appears reminiscent of the wolf man character made famous by actor Lon Chaney Jr.  This is exactly the type of pop reference one would hope to find in a Basquiat painting.  The artist in this fashion, straight out of memory, often used pop icons such as movie monsters and cartoon characters interwoven into his works." -  Scott Ferguson
Handwriting Analysis:
       "Numerous distinctive similarities were observed in the hand printings, monograms, symbols, markings, sketches and doodles observed in this Catalogue item #27 painting when compared to the works by Jean-Michel Basquiat as presented in the Catalogue Raisonne and in The Notebooks.  Due to these similarities, Jean-Michel Basquiat is identified as the person who created this Catalogue item #27 painting.  That is to say, Jean-Michel Basquiat authored the Catalogue item #27 painting."
*An "identification" is a term of art in Forensic Document Examination opinion rendering and represents the highest degree of confidence expressed by document examiners in handwriting comparisons.  That is, the examiner has no reservations whatsoever, and the examiner is certain, based on evidence contained in the questioned materials, that the writer of the known material actually wrote the handwritten works in questions (ASTM - American Society of Testing and Materials - designation E 1658-08 Standard Terminology for Expressing Conclusions of Forensic Document Examiners). - James A. Blanco
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