Zenith
A 1985 collaborative painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, named after the electronics company whose red logo is central to the composition.
Last updated October 24, 2026
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Overview
Zenith is a large collaborative painting made in 1985 by American artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. Although the supplied industry classification describes a Swiss apparel and sportswear brand, the authoritative subject is an individual work of contemporary art and should not be confused with Swiss watchmaker Zenith, electronics manufacturer Zenith Electronics, or any apparel label using the same name. The painting belongs to the short but highly influential series of works produced by Warhol and Basquiat together in New York between 1984 and 1985. Warhol and Basquiat were formally introduced by the art dealer Bruno Bischofberger in October 1982. Their relationship developed into both a friendship and a creative partnership that connected Warhol's established Pop Art practice with Basquiat's emerging, expressionistic language. Their joint works typically began with recognizable commercial or mass-media imagery supplied by Warhol. Basquiat then intervened with gestural marks, text, symbols, and alterations that disrupted or challenged the original image. The resulting paintings combined commercial legibility with abrasion, critique, and visual tension. Zenith takes its title from the electronics company Zenith and incorporates that company's red logo near the center of the canvas. The corporate emblem functions as a recognizable commercial sign while also serving as a field for Basquiat's intervention. This interaction between advertising imagery and expressive mark-making is characteristic of the collaboration: Warhol supplied a familiar visual vocabulary associated with consumer culture, while Basquiat transformed and destabilized it through his energetic additions. The broader collaboration was prolific but short-lived. Warhol and Basquiat worked together from 1984 into 1985, producing large-scale paintings that brought two generations and approaches within American art into direct contact. Their joint exhibition, Paintings, at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in September 1985 received poor reviews, and the collaboration subsequently ended. Despite the initially mixed reception, the works have become important records of the intersection between Pop Art, Neo-Expressionism, celebrity culture, commercial imagery, and the downtown New York art scene of the 1980s. Zenith later entered the international exhibition circuit. It was shown in presentations devoted to Warhol and Basquiat, as well as broader exhibitions of collaborative works involving Francesco Clemente. In May 2014, the painting was offered at Phillips's Contemporary Art Evening Sale and sold for $11.4 million. According to the cited reference, that result was the highest auction price then paid for a Warhol–Basquiat collaboration. The sale reinforced the work's importance within the market and critical history of their joint practice. Zenith remains best understood as a historically significant collaborative painting rather than as a consumer brand or operating company.
History
Zenith was created in 1985 during the period when Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat worked as artistic collaborators in New York. The artists had been formally introduced by Bruno Bischofberger in October 1982. Their partnership brought together Warhol's established reputation for appropriating and repeating commercial imagery and Basquiat's rapidly developing vocabulary of raw marks, symbols, text, and figurative references. Between 1984 and 1985, the pair produced a series of large paintings. Their working method often involved Warhol establishing a recognizable image, advertisement-like motif, headline, or product logo, after which Basquiat modified the surface with expressive marks and interventions. The process could then move back and forth between the two artists. In Zenith, the title and central red logo refer to the electronics company Zenith. The logo provides an immediately recognizable commercial sign, but its placement within a collaborative painting shifts it from advertising into the arena of art-historical and cultural commentary. The collaboration reflected the dynamics of the 1980s New York art world. Warhol represented an older, internationally recognized generation associated with Pop Art and celebrity culture, while Basquiat represented a younger downtown scene whose work had gained attention for its intensity and social, racial, and cultural references. Their partnership was described by contemporaries as mutually influential, although it also attracted skepticism and difficult critical responses. The artists' joint exhibition, Paintings, at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in September 1985 was poorly reviewed, and their formal collaboration ended afterward. Zenith continued to circulate through exhibitions focused on the artists' collaborations. Its documented exhibition history includes a 1989 presentation at Didier Imbert Fine Art in Paris; group and collaborative exhibitions at Fridericianum in Kassel, Villa Stuck in Munich, and Museo d'Arte Contemporanea at Castello di Rivoli in 1996–1997; and later institutional exhibitions in Wolfsburg, Brussels, Bilbao, Madrid, Milan, and Zurich. These presentations placed the work within broader accounts of Warhol, Basquiat, and other collaborative practices. In May 2014, Zenith was sold at Phillips's Contemporary Art Evening Sale for $11.4 million. The cited reference records the transaction as the highest auction result at that time for a Warhol–Basquiat collaboration. The work's importance therefore rests on both its formal combination of Pop and expressive strategies and its place in the history of one of the most closely studied artist partnerships of the 1980s.
- 2014
Record auction result for a Warhol–Basquiat collaboration
[1]Zenith sold for $11.4 million at Phillips in May, then the highest auction price recorded for a Warhol–Basquiat collaboration.
- 2002
Madrid exhibition
[1]Zenith appeared in Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente: Obras En Colaboracion at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.
- 1998
Included in Andy Warhol: A Factory
[1]The painting was shown at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in the exhibition Andy Warhol: A Factory, which later traveled to Brussels and Bilbao.
- 1996
Collaborative works shown in Germany and Italy
[1]Zenith was documented in Collaborations – Warhol/Basquiat/Clemente at Fridericianum in Kassel and Villa Stuck in Munich, followed by a presentation at Castello di Rivoli in Italy extending into 1997.
- 1989
Paris exhibition
[1]Zenith was included in Warhol-Basquiat: Collaborations at Didier Imbert Fine Art in Paris.
- 1985
Zenith is created
[1]Basquiat and Warhol made Zenith, a painting whose title and central red logo refer to the Zenith electronics company.
- 1985
Joint exhibition and end of the collaboration
[1]The artists presented Paintings at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in September. The exhibition received poor reviews, after which their collaborative period ended.
- 1984
The collaboration begins
[1]Warhol and Basquiat began producing a series of large collaborative paintings, continuing into 1985.
- 1982
Warhol and Basquiat are formally introduced
[1]Art dealer Bruno Bischofberger formally introduced Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat in October, establishing the relationship that later led to their collaborative paintings.
Products and positioning
A historically significant 1985 collaboration that combines Andy Warhol's commercial and Pop Art imagery with Jean-Michel Basquiat's expressive, textural interventions. Its central corporate logo places consumer branding within a visually confrontational fine-art context.
Collaborative painting · 1985
Zenith
Zenith is a 1985 painting made jointly by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. Its composition centers on the red logo of the Zenith electronics company, connecting Warhol's interest in mass-produced commercial imagery with Basquiat's gestural and disruptive interventions. The work exemplifies the artists' shared method of combining recognizable signs with layered marks and painterly alterations. It is the only documented work in this subject's product offering and should be treated as an artwork, not as a commercial apparel or sportswear line.
Recent events
Zenith plans restructuring with job cuts and lower production[2]
Reported:
A headline reports that LVMH-owned Zenith plans job cuts and a production drop as part of a shift to the high-end market.
Aviva launches “It takes Aviva” campaign in Ireland[3]
Reported:
Aviva rolled out a new campaign in Ireland using the “It takes Aviva” positioning, with advertising planned across television, radio and online channels.
Sources3 sources
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