Jay-Z and Beyoncé look radiant in a new commercial for jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co., but it’s a never-before-seen Jean-Michel Basquiat painting that’s garnering the most attention.
In the new ad, titled “About Love,” which surfaced on Sunday evening (Aug. 22) across social media after Bey posted the image to her Instagram, the Carters are looking blissfully in love. Hov, dressed in a black tuxedo, styled by June Ambrose, is filming (with a Super 8 camera) his wife, who is elegantly dressed in an all-black dress and evening gloves, put together by Marni Senofonte. Around Bey’s neck is a massive $30 million Tiffany & Co. yellow diamond necklace. But in the background is a rare painting by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat in the jeweler company’s signature robin egg blue color.
According to an article in Women’s Wear Daily, published on Monday (Aug. 23), the Basquiat painting is from 1982 and is titled “Equals Pi.” Tiffany & Co. acquired the artwork from a private collector.
"We don’t have any literature that says he [Basquiat] made the painting for Tiffany,” said Alexandre Arnault, the executive VP of products and communications at Tiffany, in an interview with WWD. “But we know a little bit about Basquiat. We know his family. We did an exhibition of his work at the Louis Vuitton Foundation a few years back. We know he loved New York, and that he loved luxury and he loved jewelry. My guess is that the [blue painting] is not by chance. The color is so specific that it has to be some kind of homage.”
The luxury jewelry company said they chose the Carters for the campaign because their 13-year marriage is the epitome of a modern love story and represents the brand’s values. Tiffany & Co.'s 2021 “About Love" campaign will launch globally on Sept. 2, followed by the release of a short film featuring Beyoncé's rendition of "Moon River”—shot by Hov on a Super 8 camera—on Sept. 15.
WWD also reports that Tiffany is now controlled by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the company Jay-Z sold his Ace of Spades champagne to earlier this year.
You can watch the Carters in Tiffany & Co.’s “About Love” ad below.
Scroll down to see additional photos from Jay and Bey's photoshoot for Tiffany & Co.