Beyoncé and Jay-Z are the new face of Tiffany & Co. with a never-before-seen Basquiat painting

Tiffany & Co. push to diversify and modernize itself with its latest campaign

Beyonce and Jay-Z perform during the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 at FNB Stadium on December 2, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100)

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are starring alongside a never-before-seen Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for a new Tiffany & Co. ad campaign. The campaign looks to rebrand the jeweler since being acquired by LVMH.

The first photos for Tiffany & Co.’s  “About Love” campaign have been released and feature not only the powerhouse couple but a newly unveiled painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The jeweler—known for the best personalized jewelry—acquired the painting which was originally in possession of a private art collector since the 1980s. The piece has been dated to 1982 and was titled "Equals Pi," but it was the featured color of the artwork that captured the jeweler’s attention. 

The main color of the Basquiat painting is the signature Tiffany Robin’s Egg Blue, which persuaded the brand to acquire the work, according to WWD. The artwork has since been unavailable to the public and had been a part of a collector's personal, private collection. Now, the painting is ready for all to see in the newly released photos.

“We don’t have any literature that says he made the painting for Tiffany,” Tiffany’s executive vice president of product and communications, Alexandre Arnault, told WWD. “But we know a little bit about Basquiat. 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.”


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Beyoncé has swapped her go-to Lorraine Schwartz jewels for Tiffany & Co., as she and Jay-Z make their debut as the jeweler’s latest ambassadors. The campaign looks to celebrate modern love, which, according to Tiffany’s, the couple embodies.

“Beyoncé and JAY-Z are the epitome of the modern love story,” Arnault said in a press release. “As a brand that has always stood for love, strength, and self-expression, we could not think of a more iconic couple that better represents Tiffany's values. We are honored to have the Carters as a part of the Tiffany family."

While the Carter’s and the Basquiat painting are the scene-stealers of the campaign, another rarity is also featured in the campaign—the beloved Tiffany diamond. Beyoncé will be the fourth person to ever wear the famous diamond, joining Lady Gaga, Audrey Hepburn, and Mary Whitehouse.

Beyoncé channeled Hepburn during the campaign taking inspiration from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The brand also released a short snippet of the upcoming trailer for About Love, which will feature Beyoncé singing a rendition of the classic 1969 song Moon River by Hepburn to her husband. 

The luxury jeweler looks to promote diversity as well through this campaign, and has pledged $2 million towards scholarship and internship programs for historically black colleges and universities.

Celebrate modern love with the Carters when the full trailer is released on September 15th on Tiffany.com

Rylee Johnston

Rylee is a U.S. news writer who previously worked for woman&home and My Imperfect Life covering lifestyle, celebrity, and fashion news. Before joining woman&home and My Imperfect Life, Rylee studied journalism at Hofstra University where she explored her interests in world politics and magazine writing. From there, she dabbled in freelance writing covering fashion and beauty e-commerce for outlets such as the TODAY show, American Spa Magazine, First for Women, and Woman’s World.