Was Jean-Michel Basquiat a good artist?
Brooklyn-born painter Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the most acclaimed contemporary artists of his generation. The young, Black American’s graffiti-inspired works show evidence of his intelligence via a powerful combination of lively imagery and poetic text.
What are the characteristics of Basquiat's art?
Basquiat's canon revolves around single heroic figures: athletes, prophets, warriors, cops, musicians, kings and the artist himself. In these images the head is often a central focus, topped by crowns, hats, and halos.
When did Jean Jean Michel Basquiat paint La Hara?
Jean-Michel Basquiat painted La Hara in 1981, a watershed point in his career from a street artist to an art world superstar. He started working in the basement of Annina Nosei’s SoHo gallery, where La Hara was executed. This period’s paintings by Basquiat are regarded his most valued.
Who created a pile of crowns for Jean Michel Basquiat?
In memory of the late artist, Keith Haring created the painting A Pile of Crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat. [120] In the obituary Haring wrote for Vogue, he stated: "He truly created a lifetime of works in ten years.
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What was Basquiat's art style?
Contempo... artNeo‑expre...PrimitivismJean-Michel Basquiat/Periods
How is Basquiat's art described?
Part of the 1970s-80s Neo-Expressionist art movement, Basquiat's paintings are full of frenetic but also very directed energy and vivid simple colours. The resulting works appear raw and unfocused, but in truth that is the opposite of what they are.
Is Basquiat contemporary art?
Brooklyn-born painter Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of the most acclaimed contemporary artists of his generation. The young, Black American's graffiti-inspired works show evidence of his intelligence via a powerful combination of lively imagery and poetic text.
What is neo expressionism movement?
Neo-expressionism developed as a reaction against conceptual art and minimal art of the 1970s. Neo-expressionists returned to portraying recognizable objects, such as the human body (although sometimes in an abstract manner), in a rough and violently emotional way, often using vivid colors.
What did Basquiat's art focus on?
Basquiat's art focused on dichotomies such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique.
What does Basquiat's crown represent?
With his signature recurring motif – the crown – the artist recognizes the majesty of his heroes: groundbreaking athletes, musicians and writers. Inspired by their accomplishments, Basquiat believed he was continuing the work of this noble lineage: he often depicts himself wearing the same crown in his self-portraits.
What means SAMO?
Basquiat and Diaz created the phrase "SAMO" during a stoned conversation, calling the marijuana they smoked "the same old crap," then shortening the phrase to "Same Old" and eventually "SAMO".
How did Jean-Michel Basquiat change art?
Artistic style Basquiat's work is neo-expressionist. The movement blew up in the 1980s, dealing with rough handling of materials in opposition to the minimalism and conceptual art prevalent in the 70s. His work can be characterized as angry, rebellious, controversial and politically radical.
What is Basquiat's style?
Basquiat's work mixed together many different styles and techniques. His paintings often included words and text, his graffiti was expressive and often abstract, and his logos and iconography had a deep historical resonance. Despite his work's "unstudied" appearance, he very skillfully and purposefully brought together a host of disparate traditions, practices, and styles to create his signature visual collage.
What is Jean Michel Basquiat's biography?
"I wanted to be a star, not a gallery mascot", Basquiat said. His life echoes this rise and struggle, and reveals the important dialogue between authenticity, representation, identity and recognition that is at the heart of understanding his work. Read full biography.
How did Jean Michel Basquiat die?
Whilst Basquiat died at only 27 of a heroin overdose , he has now become indelibly associated with the surge in interest in downtown artists in New York during the 1980s.#N#His work explored his mixed African, Latinx, and American heritage through a visual vocabulary of personally resonant signs, symbols, and figures, and his art developed rapidly in scale, scope, and ambition as he moved from the street to the gallery. Much of his work referenced the distinction between wealth and poverty, and reflected his unique position as a working-class person of color within the celebrity art world. In the years following his death, the attention to (and value of) his work has steadily increased, with one painting even setting a new record in 2017 for the highest price paid for an American artist's work at auction.
When did Basquiat start painting graffiti?
Basquiat began painting graffiti in the late 1970s, often socializing and working alongside other artists of the subculture in the Bronx and Harlem. Graffiti artists often focused on figurative images (cartoonish pictures of animals, people and objects), as well as simple 'tags' - logos or names designed to be a trademark or calling card, which was where Basquiat also began. But Basquiat's graffiti quickly developed in a more abstract direction, with the "SAMO" tag origins quite mysterious and loaded with symbolism.#N#This particular black spray paint tag on a wall is emblematic of the SAMO works that Basquiat and his collaborator Al Diaz made between 1976 and 1980. Quickly applied to public spaces in the street and subway, the SAMO pieces conveyed short, sharp, and frequently anti-materialist messages to passersby. Usually seen as a sign of trespassing and vandalism, graffiti in the hands of Diaz and Basquiat became a tool of artistic "branding", and represents an important stage in the development of Basquiat's work.#N#The concept of SAMO, or "Same Old Shit", was developed during Basquiat's involvement with a drama project in New York, where he conceived a character that was devoted to selling a fake religion. Diaz and Basquiat applied the implicit critique embodied by this snake-oil-salesman figure to the commercial and corporate enterprises that they saw hawking goods in public spaces across their city. They initially began to spray paint the slogans that made up the works across subway trains as a way of "letting off steam" but, as Diaz remembers, they rapidly realized that it fulfilled an important role when they compared the work to more conventional graffiti tags. As Diaz says, "SAMO was like a refresher course because there was a statement being made".#N#After years of collaboration, Diaz and Basquiat chose to signify the end of their joint venture with the three-word announcement "SAMO IS DEAD". Carried out episodically in various cites as a piece of ephemeral graffiti art, the phrase surfaced repeatedly on gritty buildings, particularly those throughout Lower Manhattan, where Basquiat and his collaborators carried out much of their artistic activity.
Where did the concept of the same old shit come from?
The concept of SAMO, or "Same Old Shit", was developed during Basquiat's involvement with a drama project in New York, where he conceived a character that was devoted to selling a fake religion.
What painting did Basquiat paint?
The paintings Red Skull (1982) and Untitled (1982) can be seen as primary examples. In reference to the potent image depicted in Untitled (Skull) (1981), Fred Hoffman writes that Basquiat was likely, "caught off guard, possibly even frightened, by the power and energy emanating from this unexpected image.".
What is Basquiat's most famous painting?
Basquiat's diverse cultural heritage was one of his many sources of inspiration. He often incorporated Spanish words into his artworks like Untitled (Pollo Frito) (1982) and Sabado por la Noche (1984). Basquiat's La Hara (1981), a menacing portrait of a white police officer, combines the Nuyorican slang term for police (la jara) and the Irish surname O'Hara. The black-hatted figure that appears in his paintings The Guilt of Gold Teeth (1982) and Despues De Un Pun (1987) is believed to represent Baron Samedi, the chief of the Guédé family of spirits in Haitian Vodou.
What book did Basquiat use to illustrate his work?
A major reference source used by Basquiat throughout his career was the book Gray's Anatomy , which his mother had given him while he was in the hospital aged seven. It remained influential in his depictions of the human anatomy, and in its mixture of image and text as seen in Flesh and Spirit (1982–83). Art historian Olivier Berggruen situates in Basquiat's anatomical screen prints Anatomy (1982) an assertion of vulnerability, one which "creates an aesthetic of the body as damaged, scarred, fragmented, incomplete, or torn apart, once the organic whole has disappeared. Paradoxically, it is the very act of creating these representations that conjures a positive corporeal valence between the artist and his sense of self or identity."
What did Basquiat write on the walls of SoHo?
After Basquiat and Diaz had a falling out, Basquiat inscribed "SAMO IS DEAD" on the walls of SoHo buildings in 1980. In June 1980, Basquiat appeared in High Times magazine, his first national publication as part of an article titled "Graffiti '80: The State of the Outlaw Art" by Glenn O'Brien.
How many drawings did Basquiat make?
In his short but prolific career, Basquiat produced around 1500 drawings, as well as around 600 paintings and many sculpture and mixed media works. Basquiat drew constantly, and often used objects around him as surfaces when paper was not immediately at hand. Since childhood, Basquiat produced cartoon-inspired drawings when encouraged by his mother's interest in art, and drawing became a part of his expression as an artist. Basquiat's drawings were produced in many different media, most commonly ink, pencil, felt-tip or marker, and oil-stick. Basquiat sometimes used Xerox copies of fragments of his drawings to paste on to the canvas of larger paintings.
Where did Basquiat live in 1982?
In 1982, Nosei arranged for Basquiat to move into a loft which also served as a studio at 101 Crosby Street in SoHo. Basquiat had his first American one-man show at the Annina Nosei Gallery in March 1982. In March 1982, he painted in Modena for his second Italian exhibition.
Where did Basquiat go to see his art?
In February 1986, Basquiat traveled to Atlanta, Georgia for an exhibition of his drawings at Fay Gold Gallery. That month, he participated in Limelight 's Art Against Apartheid benefit. In August 1986, he flew to Ivory Coast for an exhibition organized by art dealer Bruno Bischofberger at the French Cultural Institute in Abidjan. He was accompanied by his girlfriend Jennifer Goode. She worked at Area nightclub, a frequent hangout spot for Basquiat. Goode unsuccessfully tried to get him into a methadone program. In November 1986, at 25 years old, Basquiat became the youngest artist given an exhibition at Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hannover.
When did Jean Michel Basquiat become famous?
Admired across the world, Jean-Michel Basquiat shot to fame in the early 1980s with his unmistakable brand of contemporary art. He astonished the New York scene by making the transition from unknown graffiti artist to internationally acclaimed Neo-Expressionist in just a couple of years.
Where was Basquiat's art displayed?
His works were displayed alongside several Neo-Expressionists and promoted as new cross-cultural art in a 1982 exhibition at the Galleria Civica in Modena, Italy. Basquiat’s paintings were also compared to the colourful, frantic works of earlier artists like Cy Twombly and Jean Dubuffet.
What did Basquiat do in 1979?
He was also producing drawings and collage that had elements of Abstract Expressionism. By 1979 Basquiat was creating graffiti on his own, focusing on the SoHo art scene where he could promote himself.
What movie did Basquiat play in?
He also starred alongside Blondie’s Debbie Harry in the film Downtown 81, known as New York Beat Movie , which was a fairytale version of his own life. The film was never released, but it helped put Basquiat in touch with key figures like Andy Warhol, with whom he would develop a close relationship.
What happened to Basquiat in 1968?
However, Basquiat did not have an easy childhood; in 1968 he was hit by a car, requiring a months recovery in hospital.
How long did Jean Michel Basquiat's career last?
Jean-Michel Basquiat ’s career only lasted eight years, cut-short by his tragic death in 1988. Nevertheless his works have continued to be greatly admired and shown globally. Early collectors Herbert and Lenore Schorr recognised that this medium was equally as important to Basquiat’s practice.
What did Basquiat represent?
Depictions of famous figures are also recurring in Basquiat’s work, as the artist took to representing musicians and sports stars, especially boxers. These stars featured alongside depictions of black Hollywood actors for a 1983 exhibition of Basquiat’s at the Larry Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles.
Who was the artist who dated Basquiat?
In 1981 Basquiat was the subject of an article by art critic René Ricard in Artforum magazine. The young artist was befriended by the Pop artist Andy Warhol in 1983, and the two began to collaborate occasionally.
Where did Basquiat live?
Basquiat was raised in a middle-class home in Brooklyn. His mother was an American of Puerto Rican descent. She encouraged Basquiat’s interest in art, taking him to New York City ’s great art museums. His parents eventually separated, and he and his sisters lived with their father in Puerto Rico from 1974 to 1976.
What happened to Basquiat's mother?
His mother was diagnosed as mentally ill and eventually was institutionalized. Troubled by his early childhood, Basquiat dropped out of high school and left home at age 17. He lived on the streets, with friends, or in abandoned buildings and began a graffiti campaign with graffiti artists Al Diaz and Shannon Dawson.
What is Basquiat's passion for drawing?
At an early age, Basquiat shows an affinity for drawing, often using paper his father brings home from the accounting firm where he works to make drawings inspired by television cartoons. His mother has a strong interest in fashion design and sketching, and she frequently draws with Basquiat.
Where is Basquiat's first one artist exhibition?
In May, Basquiat travels to Europe for the first time, for his first one-artist exhibition, at the Galleria d’Arte Emilio Mazzoli in Modena, Italy. The work is shown under the name SAMO. Basquiat is invited by Annina Nosei to participate in the group show “Public Address” at her gallery in September.
What instrument does Basquiat play?
Basquiat plays clarinet and synthesizers for the group, which performs a distinct blend of jazz, punk, and synth-pop, often referred to as “noise music.”. “It wasn’t about the level of playing, it was about the sound”. (Michael Holman) .21.
What happened to Basquiat in the movie?
In May, while playing ball in the street, Basquiat is hit by an automobile. He breaks an arm, suffers various internal injuries, and has to have his spleen removed. He is hospitalized at King’s County Hospital for one month. While recovering, he receives a copy of Gray’s Anatomy from his mother.
How much is a 1982 Basquiat painting?
1984. At Christie’s spring auction of contemporary paintings, a 1982 Basquiat canvas, Untitled (Skull), fetches a record $19,000. The painting had originally been purchased for $4000 the year before. Remarkable for any twenty-three-year old artist, this auction price is all the more noteworthy for an artist of color.
Where did Basquiat live in 1978?
1978. Basquiat stays at the homes of various friends, frequently at the Canal Street loft of British artist Stan Peskett, who throws parties that bring the uptown graffitists, including Fred Braithwaite and Lee Quinones, downtown, although more for the exchange of musical ideas than art.
Where does Jean Michel Basquiat live?
The seven-year-old Basquiat lives with his father and two sisters in East Flatbush. Image Credit: ‘Notes’ © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. 1971. Gerard Basquiat and his three children move to the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn.
1. Untitled (1982)
Untitled is a 1982 artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The picture, which shows a skull, is one of the most expensive pieces of art ever acquired. It sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s in May 2017, the highest price ever paid at auction for a work by an American artist.
2. In Italian
Basquiat gained to popularity in the 1980s with his neo-expressionist paintings, but his oeuvre truly started in the mid-1970s with the street art he created on New York City’s Lower East Side.
3. Warrior
Warrior is a 1982 artwork by Basquiat and is described as a “semi-autobiographical piece that champions his artistic vision as a black artist.”
4. Dustheads
Dustheads was created in 1982. It sold for $48.8 million at Christie’s in May 2013, setting a record for a Basquiat artwork sold at auction at the time.
5. In This Case
In This Case is a 1983 artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The picture, which shows a skull, is one of the most expensive pieces of art ever acquired. It sold for $93.1 million at Christie’s New York in May 2021, the artist’s second best auction record.
6. La Hara
La Hara is a 1981 Basquiat painting that shows a skeleton police officer which sold for $35 million at Christie’s in May 2017.
7. Untitled (Boxer)
Untitled (Boxer) is a monumentally sized artwork by Basquiat depicting a boxer, a champion of epic proportions, and a figurative self-portrait of Basquiat as a rebellious warrior.
Overview
Biography
Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City, the second of four children to Matilde Basquiat (née Andrades, 1934–2008) and Gérard Basquiat (1930–2013). He had an older brother, Max, who died shortly before his birth, and two younger sisters, Lisane (b. 1964) and Jeanine (b. 1967). His father was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and his mother was born in Brookly…
Artistry
Art critic Franklin Sirmans analyzed that Basquiat appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique. His social commentary were acutely political and direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle. He also explored artistic legacies from wide sources, including an int…
Reception
Shortly after his death, The New York Times indicated that Basquiat was "the most famous of only a small number of young black artists who have achieved national recognition." Art critic Bonnie Rosenberg wrote that Basquiat experienced a good taste of fame in his last years when he was a "critically embraced and popularly celebrated artistic phenomenon"; and that some people focused on the "superficial exoticism of his work", missing the fact that it "held important connec…
Exhibitions
Basquiat's first public exhibition was at The Times Square Show in New York in June 1980. In May 1981, he had his first solo exhibition at Galleria d'Arte Emilio Mazzoli in Modena. In late 1981, he joined the Annina Nosei Gallery in New York, where he had his first American one-man show from March 6 to April 1, 1982. In 1982, he also had shows at the Gagosian Gallery in West Hollywood, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, and the Fun Gallery in the East Village. Major exhibitions o…
Art market
Basquiat sold his first painting to singer Debbie Harry for $200 in 1981. Advised by Italian artist Sandro Chia, gallerist Emilio Mazzoli purchased ten of Basquiat's works for $10,000 and held an exhibition at his gallery in Modena in May 1981. Spurred by the Neo-expressionism art boom, his work was in great demand by 1982, which is considered his most valuable year. A majority of his highest-selling paintings at auction date to 1982. Recalling that year, Basquiat said, "I had some …
Sexuality
Basquiat had many romantic relationships with women. Although he never publicly identified as bisexual, he had sexual relationships with men according to several friends. Biographer Phoebe Hoban stated that his first sexual experiences were homosexual while he was a minor in Puerto Rico; he had been orally raped by a barber dressed in drag, then he got involved with a deejay. Art critic Rene Ricard, who helped launch Basquiat's career, said that Basquiat was into everything a…
Legacy
Basquiat's estate was administered by his father, Gerard Basquiat, until his passing in 2013. It is now run by his sisters, Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat.
In 2015, Basquiat was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair's Art and Artists Special Edition. In 2016, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation placed …