BASQUIAT'S SECRET HEAD DRAWINGS HIT DENMARK MUSEUM

Denmark just scored the art world's biggest flex of 2026. ## The Secret Archive Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark opens Basquiat Headstrong this January, marking the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to Jean-Michel Basquiat's depictions of the human head and his first solo museum show in Scandinavia. This isn't your typical Basquiat showcase. The exhibition focuses on works the artist chose to keep to himself during his lifetime, remaining virtually unknown to the public. These drawings in oil stick on paper, mainly from 1981-1983, revolve around the head as a motif and are almost devoid of the symbols and text otherwise characteristic of his practice. Think Basquiat stripped down to pure emotion. ## Floor Show The works, with smudges, dirt and the occasional footprint pasted over them, seem to have been laid out on his studio floor and were predominantly made using oil sticks. The drawings are characterized by movement between structure and disintegration, ranging from skulls and anatomical studies to highly stylized faces, with eyes and mouths like portals opening up to an inner space. These heads were not preparatory studies for paintings or works in other media. They are works in their own right, inviting reflection on Basquiat's overall practice. ## Why Now Matters Though eventually found and shown at Robert Miller Gallery in New York in 1990, two years after Basquiat's passing, this exhibition aims to shine a brighter light on what has been described as the artist's 'private vocabulary.' In recent years, there's been a record-breaking trend around Basquiat's head depictions. In 2017, his canvas Untitled sold for $110.4 million at Sotheby's, making it the sixth-biggest sale ever and catapulting Basquiat into immortality as the most expensive American artist ever sold. Denmark gets the quiet revolution while everyone else chases the loud auction records. Smart move. --- ### FAQ **When does Basquiat Headstrong open?** The exhibition runs from Friday January 30 until May 17, 2026 at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, just outside Copenhagen. **Why are these drawings significant?** These works stand out in twentieth-century drawing for their ambitious scale and rich use of colored oil sticks, which imbued them with unique visual gravitas, challenging expectations of the medium. **How many works are included?** The show brings together many of the most important head images on paper by Basquiat, with loans secured from major private and public collections worldwide.