This holiday season, Tiffany & Co. are paying homage to the rebellious creativity and vibrant spirit of the city the jeweler was founded in – New York as well as one of its most iconic artists, Jean Michel Basquiat via their Christmas advent calendar.
The calendar unites the infamous American jeweler with one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century, Jean-Michel Basquiat whose work was most recently featured in the brand’s “About Love” campaign that featured Jay Z and Beyoncé.
Transforming the traditional holiday countdown into a canvas spotlighting the same masterpiece featured in “About Love,” Basquiat’s 1982 painting, “Equals Pi” is the centerpiece of Tiffany’s latest advent calendar which is now available to purchase worldwide.
Priced at $186,000, the keepsake Tiffany & Co. advent calendar features 24 Tiffany blue boxes, each one filled with jewelry and assorted other “curiosities” from their Tiffany HardWear, Tiffany T1 and Elsa Peretti® collections. Drawing inspiration from the visual language and subtexts of Basquiat’s style, the calendar is detailed with design elements that pay homage to his prolific body of work. In the early years of his career, Basquiat painted on everyday objects such as windows, doors and refrigerators, decontextualizing objects using cardboard, plywood and other materials. A tribute to the artist’s use of unconventional mediums, the doors on the four-foot white oak advent calendar are an apt canvas for “Equals Pi.” Composed of mathematical equations, text, figures, expressive gestures and symbols, the artwork exemplifies his raw yet methodological approach to his craft.
From creative collaborations to the Tiffany’s legendary Fifth Avenue flagship store windows, the brand’s heritage has been anchored in both the art world and New York City culture for over a century. As part of its ongoing efforts to bring art to more communities in its founding city, Tiffany & Co. is proud to announce a new partnership with Free Arts NYC. The House will donate $250,000 from purchases of the 2021 Advent Calendar to the organization and the funds will support a series of programs that will give children from underserved communities in New York City greater exposure to the creative arts.
Tiffany & Co. has been leveraging its platform to support underrepresented communities and providing greater access to the creative arts, most recently with its About Love scholarship which provides scholarships for students attending select Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Tiffany & Co. is proud to continue celebrating art with these important partnerships and looks forward to future initiatives that will bring art to more communities.
