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The Notebooks
Brooklyn-born Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88) was one of the most important artists of the 1980s. A key figure in the New York art scene, he inventively explored the interplay between words and images throughout his career, first as a member of SAMO, a graffiti group active on the Lower East Side in the late 1970s, and then as a painter acclaimed for his unmistakable Neoexpressionist style. From 1980 to 1987, he filled numerous working notebooks with drawings and handwritten texts. This facsimile edition reproduces the pages of seven of these fascinating and rarely seen notebooks for the first time.
The notebooks are filled with images and words that recur in Basquiat's paintings and other works. Iconic drawings and pictograms of crowns, teepees, and hatch-marked hearts share space with handwritten texts, including notes, observations, and poems that often touch on culture, race, class, and life in New York. Like his other work, the notebooks vividly demonstrate Basquiat's deep interests in comic, street, and pop art, hip-hop, politics, and the ephemera of urban life. They also provide an intimate look at the working process of one of the most creative forces in contemporary American art.
The notebooks are filled with images and words that recur in Basquiat's paintings and other works. Iconic drawings and pictograms of crowns, teepees, and hatch-marked hearts share space with handwritten texts, including notes, observations, and poems that often touch on culture, race, class, and life in New York. Like his other work, the notebooks vividly demonstrate Basquiat's deep interests in comic, street, and pop art, hip-hop, politics, and the ephemera of urban life. They also provide an intimate look at the working process of one of the most creative forces in contemporary American art.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1993
6 people are currently reading
909 people want to read
About the author
Jean-Michel Basquiat
72 books86 followersJean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. He gained popularity, first as a graffiti artist in New York City, and then as a successful 1980s-era Neo-expressionist artist. Basquiat's paintings continue to influence modern day artists and command high prices.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 13, 2016
No joke, this book takes about ten minutes to read. Well, more like five minutes, if you don't also have the TV on in the background, or any other distractions. I did have some distractions, so it took me ten.
The point is, there's not a lot of content in this small collection of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's composition notebooks. I adore a good notebook - looking through a creative person's inner thoughts always gives me a thrill. And then other times...
Well, let's put it this way. I work in a field that requires me to take a lot of phone calls. It's not a creative job at all, and I use a small spiral bound notebook to keep notes in for each call that comes through, reminders to myself for one thing or another, or a random doodle here and there (in case of the really long and boring phone calls, or being on hold for almost an hour). I've worked in this office for going on 11 years now, so the point is I have a lot of notebooks squirreled away that I've filled. It's depressing looking back at these notebooks, but I can't throw them away because omg what if I ever have to go to court over something that happened seven years ago and I need that one note that says "Call leg"?
Everyone in my office has some version of notebook like this. Occasionally we'll joke with each other about some vague note written years ago that we never crossed out, but we assume the task is completed because all that was written was "R red" or whatever, and how does that even happen, those sorts of incomplete thoughts that get written down and never marked as completed, and it just sits there for years and years and years.
There was a former employee who tried to get me fired. (Spoiler alert: She failed.) When she stopped working for us, she left behind all her shit, and I was tasked with going through most of it and tossing the irrelevant things (most of it) and keeping and organizing the relevant things (which was like two things - she was the worst). I flipped through her notebook that she left behind, primarily to see if there was anything that seemed remotely important. And I found one page where she had written two words that made me wonder about her:
"Abu Ghraib"
This is a person who misspelled just about every other word in every email she sent out. She thought "do's" was a contraction for the word "does". The fact that she spelled "Abu Ghraib" accurately freaked me out a bit.
Spoiler alert part 2: There is nothing in our job here that would ever require us to write down the words "Abu Ghraib". It doesn't even come up in the office banter.
I thought about these things while I was reading Basquiat's notebooks. He was a talented artist and an interesting person, but there's not a lot to these notebooks. He would write maybe one or two words on each page, so it's a quick read, and I can't say that I feel I have any better understanding of who Basquiat was as either a man or an artist, and that's what I really look for when I read a creative person's journals.
There is one entry (read: page) that only says "THE DOG DIED". Another page says "PEDXING".
There are other entries that are longer, and they're rather poetic in their own way. You can see Basquiat really was working things out on paper, and that's pretty neat to see. That's what a good notebook is for, really, figuring things out, processing things, getting that junk out of our heads and onto paper where it's easier to manage or visualize or whatever.
So, yes, I am glad to have read this, and I think it's good to show that it doesn't take much for a person to be considered creative. So often people think they can't keep a notebook or a journal or anything else because they're "not creative enough" or "not interesting enough" or whatever other insecurity a person might have. But the truth is, who cares. It's for your own benefit! And maybe 27 years after you die of a heroin overdose, someone will publish your notebooks. So be sure to leave plenty of incomplete sentences so someone like myself can read it and wonder what the hell you were trying to say, like "THE TEXT FOR MECHAN".
That probably meant something to Basquiat. And now we'll never know.
The point is, there's not a lot of content in this small collection of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's composition notebooks. I adore a good notebook - looking through a creative person's inner thoughts always gives me a thrill. And then other times...
Well, let's put it this way. I work in a field that requires me to take a lot of phone calls. It's not a creative job at all, and I use a small spiral bound notebook to keep notes in for each call that comes through, reminders to myself for one thing or another, or a random doodle here and there (in case of the really long and boring phone calls, or being on hold for almost an hour). I've worked in this office for going on 11 years now, so the point is I have a lot of notebooks squirreled away that I've filled. It's depressing looking back at these notebooks, but I can't throw them away because omg what if I ever have to go to court over something that happened seven years ago and I need that one note that says "Call leg"?
Everyone in my office has some version of notebook like this. Occasionally we'll joke with each other about some vague note written years ago that we never crossed out, but we assume the task is completed because all that was written was "R red" or whatever, and how does that even happen, those sorts of incomplete thoughts that get written down and never marked as completed, and it just sits there for years and years and years.
There was a former employee who tried to get me fired. (Spoiler alert: She failed.) When she stopped working for us, she left behind all her shit, and I was tasked with going through most of it and tossing the irrelevant things (most of it) and keeping and organizing the relevant things (which was like two things - she was the worst). I flipped through her notebook that she left behind, primarily to see if there was anything that seemed remotely important. And I found one page where she had written two words that made me wonder about her:
"Abu Ghraib"
This is a person who misspelled just about every other word in every email she sent out. She thought "do's" was a contraction for the word "does". The fact that she spelled "Abu Ghraib" accurately freaked me out a bit.
Spoiler alert part 2: There is nothing in our job here that would ever require us to write down the words "Abu Ghraib". It doesn't even come up in the office banter.
I thought about these things while I was reading Basquiat's notebooks. He was a talented artist and an interesting person, but there's not a lot to these notebooks. He would write maybe one or two words on each page, so it's a quick read, and I can't say that I feel I have any better understanding of who Basquiat was as either a man or an artist, and that's what I really look for when I read a creative person's journals.
There is one entry (read: page) that only says "THE DOG DIED". Another page says "PEDXING".
There are other entries that are longer, and they're rather poetic in their own way. You can see Basquiat really was working things out on paper, and that's pretty neat to see. That's what a good notebook is for, really, figuring things out, processing things, getting that junk out of our heads and onto paper where it's easier to manage or visualize or whatever.
So, yes, I am glad to have read this, and I think it's good to show that it doesn't take much for a person to be considered creative. So often people think they can't keep a notebook or a journal or anything else because they're "not creative enough" or "not interesting enough" or whatever other insecurity a person might have. But the truth is, who cares. It's for your own benefit! And maybe 27 years after you die of a heroin overdose, someone will publish your notebooks. So be sure to leave plenty of incomplete sentences so someone like myself can read it and wonder what the hell you were trying to say, like "THE TEXT FOR MECHAN".
That probably meant something to Basquiat. And now we'll never know.
July 27, 2016
As another reader mentioned, this book doesn't take any time at all to read, but it is quite interesting to see the thought process at work. As someone who keeps creative journals, I was surprised by the amount of white space. I tend to fill my pages front and back, but of course the process is different for everyone and I found this intriguing. Having just reread Lynda Barry's Syllabus for about the thirtieth time recently, I find it fascinating how composition notebooks are filled by different people.
If you're interested in seeing the creative process, you will probably like this book. If that's not your thing, you may look askance at it.
If you're interested in seeing the creative process, you will probably like this book. If that's not your thing, you may look askance at it.
August 17, 2019
Magnífica edició de pàgines seleccionades de les llibretes de Jean-Michel Basquiat. Hi ha una petita introducció i la resta és per admirar la capacitat creativa de l'autor. Molt recomanat si sou fans de l'artista o us agraden els llibres molt ben editats. Si és per llegir la història o conèixer l'obra del Basquiat millor busqueu una biografia generalista. En qualsevol cas excel·lent llibre i edició!
December 16, 2015
Basquiat's text, but only a sample. The concept is good, the pages replicate the composition books, but the collection still feels slight. the book feels a tease to the legacy of Basquiat.
Read
January 23, 2021Wish we had these for more artists. Especially apt for Basquiat for whom words were central to art. The very brief introduction says this book is drawn from eight notebooks. I am curious about what was left out as the book is too slim to be the Notebooks in their entirety. Presume they are in order and it is interesting to see the handwriting changes -- clearly all Basquiat's hand, but he had more than one hand as you can see in his work. Also looks like different style is connected to a different pen. Enjoy the mix of phone numbers and appointments mixed in. Also enjoyed speculating whether he is using cross-out technique as he did in paintings, or not. Did he share these notebooks with anyone? Who knows. Introduction is disappointingly cursory but someone must have written meaningfully about the Notebooks. For all the blank space, the content is dense in imagery and meaning. I tried searching the phrase "Nay good in proof," certain it must be a line from Shakespeare-- but no luck.
June 8, 2022
Brilliant. 🖤
March 5, 2020
More of an interesting browse than a read. Pretty surface level but a few cool writings and sketches.
March 15, 2024
loved witnessing basquiat’s stream of consciousness within these pages.
January 11, 2018
Goodreads firstread won on giveaway.
The idea (and also the realization of it) to publish Basquiat's notebooks as original as possible is admirable. This is more a treat for the fans of his art and personality (or fans of tragic 27 Club), that is why I will also send this to one. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a chance to look into the mind of the artist.
I found it funny how my brain automatically wanted to skip all the crossed out texts. I believe that just gives an extra point to the authenticity effect of this book.
It is really hard to rate the book content-wise. I mean how can you rate someone's NOTES. So I am just giving stars to the editor for the idea and sense of closeness to the Jean Michel Basquiat in this.
The idea (and also the realization of it) to publish Basquiat's notebooks as original as possible is admirable. This is more a treat for the fans of his art and personality (or fans of tragic 27 Club), that is why I will also send this to one. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a chance to look into the mind of the artist.
I found it funny how my brain automatically wanted to skip all the
It is really hard to rate the book content-wise. I mean how can you rate someone's NOTES. So I am just giving stars to the editor for the idea and sense of closeness to the Jean Michel Basquiat in this.
April 15, 2023
Very interesting insight into the mind of Basquiat and how he uses words; in his notebooks words come in snatches and fragments, taken from a wide range of sources, they are repetitive and re-contextualised into a new poetic meaning. Basquiat's transforming effect on the words in his notebooks then become fully metamorphosed in his fragmented paintings (e.g. Pegasus, 1987)
December 29, 2015
I put so many sticky notes in this book it's ridiculous. I do wish it had a bit more content.
February 15, 2016
Cool layout - I just wanted more.
April 7, 2019
EXTREMELY fast read, an obscured introduction to a person and their works if you don't know much of them beforehand. At times Basquiat seems as if he's somewhere in the world as we know it, thinking, recording his surroundings; at others, maybe he's just writing poetry, or jotting down ideas, or conveying states of mind, it's gloriously unclear. Understanding at the very least just how powerful of an artist Basquiat is, I then think to myself, I can write down random shit in a journal, and really, it's the same thing as what he did with this even though he did all that other stuff outside of this to give this specific notebook meaning. Take the inspiration of finding this print of a plain plain notebook and someone's scribbled thoughts and run. Writing in notebooks is good, and real, and you can say whatever you want in there, and hopefully somebody someday will find meaning from it, even if it's just you, later, or someone else but not because you were famous. Just keep going.
June 8, 2022
A few sketches, a single word, a series of images or what could be a one page surreal poem give fascinating glimpses into Basquiat’s thoughts and artistic process in this facsimile edition of eight of his notebooks.
Here are two examples that stood out to me:
VISE OF LOVE
A PILLAR OF SALT
PANIC OF MALFUNCTION
and the second:
SHE LOOKED HER THIRD EYE ACROSS THE
PARTY
AT A SINSAE DIPLOT FROZE UNDER
PALM AT A BEACH RESORT 1000 MILES AWAY—
HER VOICE TURNS INTO A BEGGAR IN SPAIN
A CRUCIFIX TRANSMITTING MONKEY HEAD
HYSTERIA INTO 20,000 TELEVISIONS—
AS THEVES CUT THRU TWO THIN WALLS
TORCHING A HOLE THRU THE THIN METAL
OUTER COVERING
THE TESTTUBE FALLS INTO GREEDY FINGERS
YELLOW FLASH
2 STORY HOUSE BLOWN TO PIECES
WE TOOK PICTURES
IT’S TIME TO..
WALK DOWN ¾ LEFT 3 BLOCKS TO
A RED PICKET FENCE…
Here are two examples that stood out to me:
VISE OF LOVE
A PILLAR OF SALT
PANIC OF MALFUNCTION
and the second:
SHE LOOKED HER THIRD EYE ACROSS THE
PARTY
AT A SINSAE DIPLOT FROZE UNDER
PALM AT A BEACH RESORT 1000 MILES AWAY—
HER VOICE TURNS INTO A BEGGAR IN SPAIN
A CRUCIFIX TRANSMITTING MONKEY HEAD
HYSTERIA INTO 20,000 TELEVISIONS—
AS THEVES CUT THRU TWO THIN WALLS
TORCHING A HOLE THRU THE THIN METAL
OUTER COVERING
THE TESTTUBE FALLS INTO GREEDY FINGERS
YELLOW FLASH
2 STORY HOUSE BLOWN TO PIECES
WE TOOK PICTURES
IT’S TIME TO..
WALK DOWN ¾ LEFT 3 BLOCKS TO
A RED PICKET FENCE…
January 2, 2024
Basquiat was brilliant, but unfortunately, these notebooks offer only the slightest glimpse into his creative process. As other reviewers have noted, there's simply not much content here -- most pages have just one word or phrase on them. While I'm glad I checked it out, it's just ok.
March 19, 2018
A great opportunity to get a glimpse at the thoughts of the artist. Fascinating.
November 5, 2018
Interesting
November 8, 2019
Easy quick read and not much content. Though the content that is there is really interesting. Gives you a bit of a look into his process. Enjoyed seeing this side of his work.
July 9, 2023
The content was vastly oversold.
November 25, 2025
Sparse enough to use as an actual notebook
January 23, 2025
When i was a child my parents had a photo of Basquiat sitting with a siamese cat on his lap hanging above their bed
October 24, 2021
I think I paid about $40 for this. Given it took approximately five minutes to finish, I don't rate The Notebooks as good value for money. Definitely more of a style over substance affair, but it does look great on your bookshelf.
March 9, 2018
One of my most treasured books. I keep it next to my bed and look to it often for inspiration. My friend Jay said it best:
"It’s the point of pure creation. Before it gets muddled with revision, you know what I mean?"
"It’s the point of pure creation. Before it gets muddled with revision, you know what I mean?"
November 16, 2017
loved reading the coalescing of jean's jottings into longer writings, what seems to be the birth of his samo crown. not sure why i feel so connected to his work, but he always inspires...
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews