Untitled (Page 90) and Untitled ( |GLASS | NOSE), 1986, by Basquiat are two pages of Harry’s ABC  linked by a related subject, the image of a hatted figure eating a banana on page 90 that is compositionally related to Basquiat’s vivid painting of the same title, Glass Nose, 1987, and the text  “GLASS   NOSE” drawn on page 91. These works seem to refer to the Russian political policy, Glasnost, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986, with the work on page 90 possibly including letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.  Those letters and a small part of the banana skin are also visible in a 1987 painting by the artist. 

Bananas prominently appear in multiple works that Basquiat painted in his collaboration with Andy Warhol, specifically Clearboy, 1984-1985 and Bananas, 1984-1985 (see Phillips, New York, 20^th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, June 23, 2021).  Brown Spots (Portrait of Andy Warhol as a Banana), 1984, is Basquiat’s second painting to feature a portrait of his friend and collaborator, a reference to Warhol’s cover for the album by The Velvet Underground. 

Janis Gardner Cecil