Tiffany & Co. launched a new campaign about modern love with Beyoncé and Jay-Z in front of Basquiat’s painting. Called Equals Pi (1982), this long-invisible turquoise painting is intended to recall the signature shade of blue found in luxury retailers.
Before appearing in the new Tiffany campaign, the famous artwork was owned by two other jewelry moguls: Italian designers Alberto and Stefania Sabbadini. It features the artist’s recognizable skulls and scrawled text with phrases such as AMORITE, TEN YEN and DUNCE belonged to two other jewelry moguls: Italian designers Alberto and Stefania Sabbadini.
The famous artwork was seen in their Milan apartment along with other works by Andy Warhol, George Kondo, Anselm Kiefer, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, and Rene Magritte. The family bought it in 1996 at Sotheby’s London auction for almost $ 253,000.
According to a WWD report, Sabbadini recently sold it privately to a luxury jewelry brand for an undisclosed amount. Basquiat collector Larry Warsh, familiar with the painting from previous museum exhibitions, says it’s truly incredible that Tiffany found the only painting that had a reference to Tiffany. It’s an amazing collaboration and a really important famous art piece of the series.
In the Tiffany ad campaign, Beyoncé wears an all-black diamond-studded Balmain look, inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s dress from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Meanwhile, Jay-Z wears an outfit that mimics Basquiat’s outfit when he appeared on the cover of New York Magazine in 1985.
The Carters’ affection for Basquiat is well documented. The Brooklyn-based rapper purchased Basquiat’s famous painting Mecca (1982) in 2013 at Sotheby’s for $ 4.2 million. This work depicts a New York landscape with the word “Empire” scrawled at the top, beneath the artist’s signature crown.
The ad is part of Tiffany’s larger modern love advertising campaign. As a part of the project, Beyoncé and Jay-Z together with Emmanuel Ajei, director of Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King, filmed a short film.
Alexander Arnault, executive vice president of products and communications, said that as a brand that has always represented love, power, and expression, we couldn’t have come up with a more iconic couple that better represented Tiffany’s values.
The luxury goods conglomerate LVMH acquired the brand at the beginning of the year and restructured management and creative teams during the renovation of the historic jewelry house.
The Tiffany ad campaign officially kicks off on September 2, after which a companion print and film will be released for the project. The visuals and extras created for the campaign will be released throughout the year. In collaboration with the Carters, Tiffany & Co. pledged to provide $ 2 million in funding for scholarship and internship programs for colleges and universities that have historically been black.
Tiffany & Co. is almost 185 years old. And like many vintage brands, it sits between the past and the present. On the one hand, Tiffany has an incredible legacy and history. On the other hand, many young buyers don’t care.
Over the years, Tiffany has tried to attract the attention of “trendy modern” shoppers. Its latest effort, the “Not Your Mother’s Tiffany” ad campaign, is perhaps his most striking. But it also caused some commotion.
With 7.1 million followers on Instagram, 9.4 million on Facebook, 1.58 million on Twitter, and 171,000 on Pinterest, Tiffany & Co. prove that there is plenty of room for luxury on the world’s most popular social media platforms.
