A never-before-seen Jean-Michel Basquiat painting has emerged, and is the centerpiece in Tiffany & Co.'s latest ad campaign.
The 1982 painting titled "Equals Pi" was in the hands of a private collector and hadn't been shown publicly until Tiffany purchased the art and unveiled it in its new "About Love" campaign, featuring Beyoncé and Jay-Z. The painting is Tiffany-blue, and while there is no proof it was created with the jeweler in mind, Alexandre Arnault, Tiffany's executive vice president of products and communications, told WWD he doesn't think it's a coincidence. "The color is so specific that it has to be some kind of homage," he said. But the emergence of an unseen piece of work by the deceased artist and its use in an ad alongside billionaires to sell high-end jewelry has social media in a tizzy, due to Basquiat's perceived anti-capitalism stance.
Also center stage in the video and print campaign is the famous 128.54 carat Tiffany diamond, discovered in South Africa in 1877 and worn only by Mary Whitehouse, Audrey Hepburn, Lady Gaga, and now, the first Black woman to don it, Beyoncé.
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The video, which features Beyoncé singing "Moon River" in homage to Breakfast at Tiffany's, debuts Sept. 15. The Basquiat painting will be on display at Tiffany's flagship location in New York City. Read more at WWD.
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