Image via Beyoncé
Pop-culture icons past and present compete for the limelight in a new Tiffany & Co activation that’s bound to get people talking, this time for good reasons. The brand campaign, captured by photographer Mason Poole, features a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that has never greeted the public eye, while it also confirms Beyoncé and Jay Z as the jewelry label’s new, powerful ambassadors.
Serving as the backdrop in a photo and musical video is Basquiat’s 1982 artwork, Equals Pi, that happens to be (or was it the intention?) washed in the famous Tiffany blue. The painting was kept in a private collection until the recognizable robin egg hue caught the LVMH-owned brand’s eye, and it later purchased the piece.
“We don’t have any literature that says he made the painting for Tiffany,” shared Tiffany & Co VP Alexandre Arnault in a statement obtained by Dazed. He’s convinced Basquiat’s choice of color was deliberate. “We know he loved New York, and that he loved luxury and he loved jewelry. My guess is that the painting is not by chance. The color is so specific that it has to be some kind of homage.”
Vying for attention is the 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond donned on Beyoncé’s neck. Previously, the gem was only seen on Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Lady Gaga. And honoring its heritage is Beyoncé’s own rendition of Moon River, heard for the first time ever in the campaign.
In line with the partnership with Beyoncé, Tiffany & Co has also pledged US$2 million in funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities scholarship and internship programs.
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