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Basquiat
The 80s art star who put poverty, power, and racism on the wall
An icon of 1980s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) first made his name under the graffiti tag "SAMO," before establishing his studio practice and catapulting to fast fame at the age of 20. Although his career lasted barely a decade, he remains a cult figure of artistic social commentary, and a trailblazer in the mediation of graffiti and gallery art.
Basquiat's work drew upon diverse sources and media to create an original and urgent artistic vocabulary, biting with critique against structures of power and racism. His practice merged abstraction and figuration, poetry and painting, while his influences spanned Greek, Roman, and African art, French poetry, jazz, and the work of artistic contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly. The results are vivid, visceral mixtures of words, African emblems, cartoonish figures, daubs of bold color, and beyond.
This book presents Basquiat's short but prolific career, his unique style, and his profound engagement with ever-relevant issues of integration and segregation, poverty and wealth.
An icon of 1980s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) first made his name under the graffiti tag "SAMO," before establishing his studio practice and catapulting to fast fame at the age of 20. Although his career lasted barely a decade, he remains a cult figure of artistic social commentary, and a trailblazer in the mediation of graffiti and gallery art.
Basquiat's work drew upon diverse sources and media to create an original and urgent artistic vocabulary, biting with critique against structures of power and racism. His practice merged abstraction and figuration, poetry and painting, while his influences spanned Greek, Roman, and African art, French poetry, jazz, and the work of artistic contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly. The results are vivid, visceral mixtures of words, African emblems, cartoonish figures, daubs of bold color, and beyond.
This book presents Basquiat's short but prolific career, his unique style, and his profound engagement with ever-relevant issues of integration and segregation, poverty and wealth.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2003
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December 12, 2020
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was an American neo-expressionist painter and American graffiti artist, the first African-American to succeed in New York's fine arts.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, on December 22, 1960. Son of Gerard Jean-Basquiat, former Haitian interior minister and Mathilde Andrada, of Puerto Rican origin. His father emigrated to the United States and became the owner of a large accounting firm.
At the age of 3, Basquiat already showed an aptitude for the arts, drawing caricatures and reproducing characters from television cartoons. When he was 6 years old, his favourite program was to visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he already had a membership card. At the age of seven, he was run over and had one of his arms torn. While in the hospital, he received an anatomy book from his mother that came to influence his art when he later explored the anatomy of the human body.
After separating from his parents, he moved with his father and sisters to Puerto Rico where he lived between 1974 and 1976. Back in New York, he studied at Edward R. Murrow High School but did not complete the course. When he was 18, he left home to live with some friends when he started painting T-shirts and selling on the streets of New York.
With his graffiti friend, Al Diaz, and living on the streets, he started to graffiti walls and the New York subway and sign “SAMO”. He started to appear on a cable channel and was invited to participate in the film Downtown 81, which tells the young artist's daily life. Basquiat became known internationally, became friends with Andy Warhol and started painting canvases that were commercialized in New York, Los Angeles, Zurich and Tokyo.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's art was called “intellectualized primitivism”, with a tendency to neo-expressionism, which depicts skeletal bodies, terrified and masked faces. The years 1982 to 1985 were the most productive of his career as an artist, coinciding with his friendship with Andy Warhol when he made collages and paintings with written messages. At that time he participated in large exhibitions with the help of some curators.
After Warhol died in 1987, Basquiat felt asked, and this was reflected in his art. He began to overdo drugs and died of an overdose of heroin with cocaine.
Jean-Michel Basquiat passed away in New York, United States, on August 12, 1988
Source: https://www.ebiografia.com/jean_miche...
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, on December 22, 1960. Son of Gerard Jean-Basquiat, former Haitian interior minister and Mathilde Andrada, of Puerto Rican origin. His father emigrated to the United States and became the owner of a large accounting firm.
At the age of 3, Basquiat already showed an aptitude for the arts, drawing caricatures and reproducing characters from television cartoons. When he was 6 years old, his favourite program was to visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and he already had a membership card. At the age of seven, he was run over and had one of his arms torn. While in the hospital, he received an anatomy book from his mother that came to influence his art when he later explored the anatomy of the human body.
After separating from his parents, he moved with his father and sisters to Puerto Rico where he lived between 1974 and 1976. Back in New York, he studied at Edward R. Murrow High School but did not complete the course. When he was 18, he left home to live with some friends when he started painting T-shirts and selling on the streets of New York.
With his graffiti friend, Al Diaz, and living on the streets, he started to graffiti walls and the New York subway and sign “SAMO”. He started to appear on a cable channel and was invited to participate in the film Downtown 81, which tells the young artist's daily life. Basquiat became known internationally, became friends with Andy Warhol and started painting canvases that were commercialized in New York, Los Angeles, Zurich and Tokyo.
Jean-Michel Basquiat's art was called “intellectualized primitivism”, with a tendency to neo-expressionism, which depicts skeletal bodies, terrified and masked faces. The years 1982 to 1985 were the most productive of his career as an artist, coinciding with his friendship with Andy Warhol when he made collages and paintings with written messages. At that time he participated in large exhibitions with the help of some curators.
After Warhol died in 1987, Basquiat felt asked, and this was reflected in his art. He began to overdo drugs and died of an overdose of heroin with cocaine.
Jean-Michel Basquiat passed away in New York, United States, on August 12, 1988
Source: https://www.ebiografia.com/jean_miche...
July 27, 2013
meh. i should've known better with this one. while i thoroughly enjoyed reading a bit about this brilliant renegade's life story (i.e., my **favorite** part had to be the fact that he was often asked to leave/would get into "trouble" with friends/acquaintances who would host him over the years, as they he would come home to discover their refrigerators, furniture, etc. transformed into artwork :) hilarious!! what do you expect when you invite a precocious and rebellious graffitist-turned-artist into your home!?!?) as well as viewing the gorgeous reproductions of his paintings, i found the majority of the book rather nauseating. instead of presenting factual/biographical information that would assist the reader in understanding the artist in a deeper way, the author presents page after page of the intellectual masturbation one would expect from a phD in art history. in other words, one definitive statement after the next regarding the "meaning" of what is obviously subjective. this pretentious tradition of dissecting another person's art is nothing short of blasphemy. i think i'll rent the documentary and hope for the best, as the director was at least a FRIEND of the deceased artist! sheesh.
May 29, 2021
Dreams of fame were realized when artist Jean-Michel Basquiat became a cultural phenomenon in New York City in the 1980s. He criticized wealth, racism, power, and commercialism throughout his graffiti under the tag name SAMO and artwork during his short life (1960 - 1988). He had a eulogy for his tag name when he laid it to rest.
There were themes of rage, protest, rebellion, religion, figures with upraised arms, and African American athletes and musicians. His unique, fierce, and free flowing style featured words, crowns, eyes, vehicles, the city sprawl, and stick-like figures. His work was messy, bold, angry, raw, and child-like but beautiful. With contrasts of dark and light, he used words, collages, symbols, and layers of paint. It appears that Gray’s Anatomy, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Franz Kline, Jean Dubuffet, Leonardo da Vinci, and African rock art influenced his work. Basquiat was described as a genius, a radiant child.
Much to the dismay of his hosts, he was kicked out of several places when he painted their “doors, refrigerators, stools and tables” without their permission. Fulfilling a desire for his work to showcased in a museum, at age 22 his art was part of a contemporary art exhibit at the Whitney. Despite Andy Warhold’s initial reluctance and reserve, Basquiat collaborated and developed a friendship with Warhol, who Basquiat admired.
His painting of Five Thousand Dollars in white lettering against a black and brown background appears to be “nothing more than a price tag; a purchasable price tag.” There is speculation that some of his paintings were removed before they were finished due to market demands. While seemingly prophetic of his demise, two his paintings from 1988, Eroica I and Eroica II, featuring “Man Dies” throughout and one of his last, Riding with Death, death was predominantly displayed in his art. Tragically he died of a drug overdose at age 27.
Part of the Basic Art series from Taschen of about 200 artists, this slim book offers a condensed rendition and excellent introduction or reminder of the life and art of the explosive, driven, and tumultuous world of Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was impressed and plan to read more in the series.
There were themes of rage, protest, rebellion, religion, figures with upraised arms, and African American athletes and musicians. His unique, fierce, and free flowing style featured words, crowns, eyes, vehicles, the city sprawl, and stick-like figures. His work was messy, bold, angry, raw, and child-like but beautiful. With contrasts of dark and light, he used words, collages, symbols, and layers of paint. It appears that Gray’s Anatomy, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Franz Kline, Jean Dubuffet, Leonardo da Vinci, and African rock art influenced his work. Basquiat was described as a genius, a radiant child.
Much to the dismay of his hosts, he was kicked out of several places when he painted their “doors, refrigerators, stools and tables” without their permission. Fulfilling a desire for his work to showcased in a museum, at age 22 his art was part of a contemporary art exhibit at the Whitney. Despite Andy Warhold’s initial reluctance and reserve, Basquiat collaborated and developed a friendship with Warhol, who Basquiat admired.
His painting of Five Thousand Dollars in white lettering against a black and brown background appears to be “nothing more than a price tag; a purchasable price tag.” There is speculation that some of his paintings were removed before they were finished due to market demands. While seemingly prophetic of his demise, two his paintings from 1988, Eroica I and Eroica II, featuring “Man Dies” throughout and one of his last, Riding with Death, death was predominantly displayed in his art. Tragically he died of a drug overdose at age 27.
Part of the Basic Art series from Taschen of about 200 artists, this slim book offers a condensed rendition and excellent introduction or reminder of the life and art of the explosive, driven, and tumultuous world of Jean-Michel Basquiat. I was impressed and plan to read more in the series.
November 7, 2025
This is the first Taschen I have read on a really modern artist, and maybe this explains the extent to which it focuses on the gallerists and the ways in which Basquiat lost to the art world. It tells us something about his works, but very, very little about the artist himself.
March 2, 2024
I learned a lot and did become a little obsessed with Basquiat while reading this book.
December 29, 2018
(Lu en anglais. Basquiat : 1960-1988, The Explosive Force of the Streets)
Ce n’est pas le premier livre sur Basquiat que je regarde ou feuillette, mais c’est le premier que je lis du début à la fin, sans perdre un seul mot, y compris les descriptions et notes qui accompagnent les nombreuses illustrations.
D’emblée, il convient de préciser que je suis un fan fini de l’œuvre du jeune peintre (je dis jeune parce qu’il est mort à 27 ans, en 1988). Son art, un art de rage et de rébellion, me fascine depuis longtemps et je ne me lasse nullement d’en savoir plus sur l’artiste, mais aussi sur la création du catalogue et de son évolution artistique. C’est cette approche qu’emprunte l’auteur, Leonhard Emmerling, dans ce merveilleux ouvrage. C’est par les créations que la ligne du temps est habilement tracée. C’est par elle que le lecteur parcourt les années où Jean-Michel Basquiat a évolué de graffitiste (SOMA) à peintre- illustrateur, toujours innovateur et singulier.
L’auteur présente également un portrait formatif du tournant pécunier qu’a pris l’art dans les années ’80. Les artistes se sont transformés en créateurs-en-série pour répondre aux demandes du marché, aux commandes placées par les galeristes. Les œuvres sont vendues avant même d’être réalisées. L’artiste est tenu de fournir.
« Buying art was chic and art became an object of investment, just like shares in stocks. … Art became part and parcel of lifestyle.”
J’ai adoré ce livre dans lequel Basquiat n’est ni héro, ni martyr, mais simplement un ARTISTE.
En bonus, comme c'est le cas pour la plupart des publications TASCHEN, la présentation est de grande qualité.
Ce n’est pas le premier livre sur Basquiat que je regarde ou feuillette, mais c’est le premier que je lis du début à la fin, sans perdre un seul mot, y compris les descriptions et notes qui accompagnent les nombreuses illustrations.
D’emblée, il convient de préciser que je suis un fan fini de l’œuvre du jeune peintre (je dis jeune parce qu’il est mort à 27 ans, en 1988). Son art, un art de rage et de rébellion, me fascine depuis longtemps et je ne me lasse nullement d’en savoir plus sur l’artiste, mais aussi sur la création du catalogue et de son évolution artistique. C’est cette approche qu’emprunte l’auteur, Leonhard Emmerling, dans ce merveilleux ouvrage. C’est par les créations que la ligne du temps est habilement tracée. C’est par elle que le lecteur parcourt les années où Jean-Michel Basquiat a évolué de graffitiste (SOMA) à peintre- illustrateur, toujours innovateur et singulier.
L’auteur présente également un portrait formatif du tournant pécunier qu’a pris l’art dans les années ’80. Les artistes se sont transformés en créateurs-en-série pour répondre aux demandes du marché, aux commandes placées par les galeristes. Les œuvres sont vendues avant même d’être réalisées. L’artiste est tenu de fournir.
« Buying art was chic and art became an object of investment, just like shares in stocks. … Art became part and parcel of lifestyle.”
J’ai adoré ce livre dans lequel Basquiat n’est ni héro, ni martyr, mais simplement un ARTISTE.
En bonus, comme c'est le cas pour la plupart des publications TASCHEN, la présentation est de grande qualité.
June 14, 2012
"Since I was seventeen, I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix... I had romantic feeling of how many people had become famous." - Jean-Michel Basquiat
Emmerling introduces us to Basquiat's life from his childhood to his rapid ascent and shift from a graffiti artist to a Neo-expressionist to his tragic death in under 7 chapters and 100 pages. It is not brief but it is not dense either. It has a decent amount of information on this brilliant, enigmatic and stylistic artist.
He also guides us through his artwork themes ("kings, heroes and the street"), child-like styles and collaboration with his mentor, Andy Warhol. There are a lot of pictures of his art-work (and self portraits). A personal favorite of mine; Angel [p.60/62] (which is also the cover art of this book).
There are valuable excerpts of interviews, news articles, art reviews, and passing information on other artists like Julian Schnabel and Vincent Gallo, art dealers, and the likes. It is highly informative and a good book to get a basic understanding of Basquiat. I am proud to own a copy of this.
Emmerling introduces us to Basquiat's life from his childhood to his rapid ascent and shift from a graffiti artist to a Neo-expressionist to his tragic death in under 7 chapters and 100 pages. It is not brief but it is not dense either. It has a decent amount of information on this brilliant, enigmatic and stylistic artist.
He also guides us through his artwork themes ("kings, heroes and the street"), child-like styles and collaboration with his mentor, Andy Warhol. There are a lot of pictures of his art-work (and self portraits). A personal favorite of mine; Angel [p.60/62] (which is also the cover art of this book).
There are valuable excerpts of interviews, news articles, art reviews, and passing information on other artists like Julian Schnabel and Vincent Gallo, art dealers, and the likes. It is highly informative and a good book to get a basic understanding of Basquiat. I am proud to own a copy of this.
January 30, 2022
Don't get me wrong; I love Basquait. Somehow the author manages to say too much while simultaneously not saying enough. I felt there was way too much name-dropping. I truly don't care to learn the names of the multiple people who profited from him during his career. The book did highlight the power dynamic between Basquait and Warhol in a new light for me, which I enjoyed. My main complaint is the lack of information on Defacement. I know the author had a lot of artworks to touch on, but I'd argue that Defacement is Basquait's most important work, and there were only two sentences on it. I felt the author diminished the significance of Michael Stewart's death by not including more detail.
March 24, 2024
Pay for soup 🥣
Build a fort 🏰
Set that on fire 🔥
Basquiat’s life in a nutshell.
Build a fort 🏰
Set that on fire 🔥
Basquiat’s life in a nutshell.
October 11, 2015
"Astonishing" is a word Emmerling uses in summing up Basquiat's work. It is absolutely true.
In his short life, Basquiat was amazingly prolific. He carried within a wide knowledge of history and culture and his place in both. He confronted the problem of identity and race from many angles: he shouted and whispered and cried.
Basquiat, an inventive and intellectually curious young man, was forced to educate himself because the schools he attended sporadically had no place for his energy and wide ranging mind. Through sheer force of will these paintings and drawings were born.
"Basquiat's work thus documents the progressive construction of the artist's discordant identity, man grappling with the reality that he could make little use of the patterns available to him....Basquiat's numerous self-portraits may well be ideal blueprints of the artist as enraged hero; but they are also terrifyingly bleak documents of inner turmoil and great loneliness."
Each painting and drawing contains depths that keep me retuning to the images and words. "Astonishing": I can find no better word.
In his short life, Basquiat was amazingly prolific. He carried within a wide knowledge of history and culture and his place in both. He confronted the problem of identity and race from many angles: he shouted and whispered and cried.
Basquiat, an inventive and intellectually curious young man, was forced to educate himself because the schools he attended sporadically had no place for his energy and wide ranging mind. Through sheer force of will these paintings and drawings were born.
"Basquiat's work thus documents the progressive construction of the artist's discordant identity, man grappling with the reality that he could make little use of the patterns available to him....Basquiat's numerous self-portraits may well be ideal blueprints of the artist as enraged hero; but they are also terrifyingly bleak documents of inner turmoil and great loneliness."
Each painting and drawing contains depths that keep me retuning to the images and words. "Astonishing": I can find no better word.
May 27, 2016
A good selection of artworks and commentary about Basquiat's themes, all based on exhibit catalogues and reviews. This is not a biography. A good overview of his work; rather distanced from the events of his life.
June 24, 2021
love love love the pictures - absolutely hate the commentary. it’s a cultural and artistic miss. i would prefer to read a book by a Black author who can better contextualize and understand the artist.
February 27, 2009
fabulous introduction to an amazing artist -- and his hyper-speed rise and fall. the illustrations are good selections, but there were a couple missing that i would have loved to see included.
February 6, 2017
Bought the book for the art (surprise!) and while the author gives some good background information here and there, they certainly.......................................talk too much
January 31, 2021
Basquiat is one of my favorite painters and I'm so happy that the Basic Art Series by TASCHEN includes a book dedicated to him. This book is a wonderful introduction to Basquiat's work that observes the development of his visual aesthetic while also providing some brief snippets of biography. I'll admit the final chapter wasn't really that satisfying in terms off understanding the last few bits of Basquiat's work or his lasting cultural importance, but I would offer this book to anyone interested in learning about one of the most important painters in the history of art.
February 25, 2019
An artist worth knowing.
February 8, 2025
Taschen es increíble 🤭🤭
Me he enamorado completamente de Basquiat, no pensaba yo que tenía tanto trasfondo, lo amo 💘
Me he enamorado completamente de Basquiat, no pensaba yo que tenía tanto trasfondo, lo amo 💘
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October 15, 2024Amazing collection of Basquiat’s art, and a detailed description of his life and impact. 8.2/10.
February 8, 2025
gone too soon bro
July 20, 2007
In spite of many who claim that Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was but a flash in the pan, a faddish personality whose work won't survive, today there are many different presentations of his art published. This TASCHEN overview by Leonhard Emmerling, however, might be the best introduction for those who have never come across this great figure. Basquiat's art speaks to this reviewer who encountered the painter only years after the time in which he lived and worked, and Emmerling's book explains just what's so special about him.
I come to like this TASCHEN series. None of its titles meant to provide exhaustive coverage of a painter's oeuvre. Instead, they give a brief biography with examples of outstanding work from each period. And this one on Basquiat is no different. In the prose portion of the work, Emmerling tracks Basquiat from his humble beginnings as a grafitti artist through his discovery and brief fame, and ultimately to his death from a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988. Especially attention is paid to his relationship with Andy Warhol, and the rather misguided partnerships he had with Warhol and Francesco Clemente. A coda discusses views of Basquiat after his death, with savage words against Schnabel's film. Throughout, Emmerling portrays Basquiat as a conflicted figure, half in the art scene and half sick of the commercialism, and unsure of whether to embrace his African heritage or assimilate to upper-class white values.
The selected paintings are presented here in glorious colour. I was very pleased to see that Emmerling features Basquiat's "Pegasus", a massive and intensely-detailed pencil work which I believe is his masterpiece. His "Angel" gets a full-page spread (as well as the cover), and his fascinating "Baptism" an entire page. Many of Basquiat's sly jabs against commercialism, for example by painting a dollar sign on the work, are featured.
I come to like this TASCHEN series. None of its titles meant to provide exhaustive coverage of a painter's oeuvre. Instead, they give a brief biography with examples of outstanding work from each period. And this one on Basquiat is no different. In the prose portion of the work, Emmerling tracks Basquiat from his humble beginnings as a grafitti artist through his discovery and brief fame, and ultimately to his death from a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988. Especially attention is paid to his relationship with Andy Warhol, and the rather misguided partnerships he had with Warhol and Francesco Clemente. A coda discusses views of Basquiat after his death, with savage words against Schnabel's film. Throughout, Emmerling portrays Basquiat as a conflicted figure, half in the art scene and half sick of the commercialism, and unsure of whether to embrace his African heritage or assimilate to upper-class white values.
The selected paintings are presented here in glorious colour. I was very pleased to see that Emmerling features Basquiat's "Pegasus", a massive and intensely-detailed pencil work which I believe is his masterpiece. His "Angel" gets a full-page spread (as well as the cover), and his fascinating "Baptism" an entire page. Many of Basquiat's sly jabs against commercialism, for example by painting a dollar sign on the work, are featured.
January 3, 2017
Comprehensive. Shows a lot of his greatest pieces. Only wish it could have been longer in material.
February 12, 2015
It was great getting to see so many of Basquiat's works in the collection and I enjoyed the author's analysis of the compositions. Having not been formally trained in any artistic discipline, I found it useful to have a guide for delving into such complex work. I'll always have my own attraction to Basquiat's works, but having some of the artist's intentions laid bare in the context of his great works has enhanced my appreciation. I have to give credit to this account for also veering somewhat from the shared mythology around this great artist. I have an undying reverence for Basquiat, but it was enlightening to read about him from an unfamiliar perspective, one that did not completely match up with his portrayal in cinema or the writings of his close friends like Glen O'Brien.
June 10, 2011
La vita di Jean Michel Basquiat raccontata da Leonhard Emmerling prende si dipana e velocità vorticose come l'ascesa del giovane artista scomparso nell'88 per overdose da eroina.
Conosciamo il talento di Basquiat, sentiamo la sua difficoltà ad accettare di essere una mascotte dell'industria e del mercato, conosciamo il suo amore per l'arte, per i graffiti, per la storia dell'america e l'impegno di Basquiat nella lotta alla discriminazione.
Conosciamo relativamente poco di quello che ha pensato o ha detto. Lasceremo, dunque, parlare le sue opere.
Conosciamo il talento di Basquiat, sentiamo la sua difficoltà ad accettare di essere una mascotte dell'industria e del mercato, conosciamo il suo amore per l'arte, per i graffiti, per la storia dell'america e l'impegno di Basquiat nella lotta alla discriminazione.
Conosciamo relativamente poco di quello che ha pensato o ha detto. Lasceremo, dunque, parlare le sue opere.
June 15, 2007
I honestly recommend this book to artists, storytellers and psychologists...Basquiat left us too soon, but you will quickly see how powerful and immediate he felt his story to be
July 21, 2015
Basquiat es irregular. Algunas veces tiene destellos de grandeza, otras no; lo he visto hasta en playeras Pull & Bear. Todo es me confunde. En cuanto al libro: es Taschen.
January 26, 2024
I count Jean-Michel Basquiat as one of my favorite artists of the 20th century, so this review is by no means related to the actual art within. The Taschen-Art books have been sort of hit or miss for me, some of them being very insightful and others not so much, but Leonhard Emmerling's book on Basquiat is far from one of the better ones; in fact, I'd say that it is the worst one that I have bought so far, and that's for many reasons.
The first being that I simply gained pretty much nothing out of reading this; I have looked into the artist's life quite a bit before and even watched Julian Schnabel's biopic on the man, so it's not like I expected to get revelatory biographical information from this book, but pretty much no aspect of his writing offered much substance at all; the biographical content seems to be arbitrarily chosen, some really important events get ignored or breezed by while at other times spending multiple paragraphs on information that does not matter all too much in the bigger picture. His artistic and interpretive observations are sparse, and if ever, rarely interesting or nuanced, either being completely surface-level about it all or then pseudo-intellectually preaching in a pretentious manner about very subjective parts. Then there's the choice of paintings in this book, which is far from comprehensive and at times completely random about what it deems a worthy picture and what not, some really important ones are missing while other ones are largely printed without any need of them being as present as they are.
In the end, I'm left with no new information or thoughtful writing and an only mildly satisfying collection of prints, which is why I'll go with a negative rating here.
The first being that I simply gained pretty much nothing out of reading this; I have looked into the artist's life quite a bit before and even watched Julian Schnabel's biopic on the man, so it's not like I expected to get revelatory biographical information from this book, but pretty much no aspect of his writing offered much substance at all; the biographical content seems to be arbitrarily chosen, some really important events get ignored or breezed by while at other times spending multiple paragraphs on information that does not matter all too much in the bigger picture. His artistic and interpretive observations are sparse, and if ever, rarely interesting or nuanced, either being completely surface-level about it all or then pseudo-intellectually preaching in a pretentious manner about very subjective parts. Then there's the choice of paintings in this book, which is far from comprehensive and at times completely random about what it deems a worthy picture and what not, some really important ones are missing while other ones are largely printed without any need of them being as present as they are.
In the end, I'm left with no new information or thoughtful writing and an only mildly satisfying collection of prints, which is why I'll go with a negative rating here.
June 14, 2020
The first few pages give the impression that the writer is not a fan of Basquiats work, referring to the artworks as “vivid, visceral mixtures of words, African emblems, cartoonish figures, daubs of bold color, and beyond and throughout the book merely seems to seek justification for Basquiats fame.
First chapter has an unnecessary amount of pretentious words, which does not appear later on in the book.
There are many descriptions of works with no reference pictures or references on other pages which makes reading and finding the works described an uneasy experience.
Best to read the life summary in the back first, then the last few chapters. And if still interested, then start from page 1.
First chapter has an unnecessary amount of pretentious words, which does not appear later on in the book.
There are many descriptions of works with no reference pictures or references on other pages which makes reading and finding the works described an uneasy experience.
Best to read the life summary in the back first, then the last few chapters. And if still interested, then start from page 1.
December 31, 2018
Quando alguém morre aos 27 anos a aura e o mito inevitavelmente surgem e ganham forma. No entanto, nesta caminhada pela vida e obra de Jean-Michel Basquiat terminei com um grande sentimento de angústia, por ver ali o fruto de um contexto extremamente cruel e fechado sobre si próprio, que alimentou um mito e o dizimou ou enfraqueceu, sem grandes contemplações. Não é nada de novo, aliás é algo demasiado frequente. Nada mais perigoso do que pequenos poderes de pessoas fechadas nas suas bolhas elitistas e pérfidas. Lamentável quando isso ajuda a por fim a um percurso tão rico e tão intenso como o de Basquiat.
May 19, 2023
2022 hat die Albertina eine Retrospektive des Werkes von Jean-Michel Basquiat gezeigt, der 1988 mit 28 Jahren an einer Überdosis an Drogen verstarb. Basquiat war als schwarzer Künstler in die elitären Kreise der New Yorker Kunstszene aufgestiegen, seine Werke erzielten höchste Preise, einige Jahre war er eng mit Andy Warhol befreundet.
Das Werk von Basquiat ist estrem ausdrucksstark, erinnert an Dubuffet. Natürlich lebt der der Mythos Basquiats (und damit der Preis der Werke der in die Millionen geht pro Werk) auch von seinem frühen Tod, wie so häufig bei früh verstorbenen Künstler*innen.
Das Buch gibt einen guten raschen Überblick mit einer Anzahl von Abbildungen seiner Bilder.
Das Werk von Basquiat ist estrem ausdrucksstark, erinnert an Dubuffet. Natürlich lebt der der Mythos Basquiats (und damit der Preis der Werke der in die Millionen geht pro Werk) auch von seinem frühen Tod, wie so häufig bei früh verstorbenen Künstler*innen.
Das Buch gibt einen guten raschen Überblick mit einer Anzahl von Abbildungen seiner Bilder.
September 2, 2024
basquiat fue un genio rebelde y lleno de rabia que denunció mediante sus obras el racismo tan severo de nyc en los 80s. lastimosamente su trabajo fue comercializado como si sus obras fueran acciones, los revendedores haciéndose millonarios a costa de él. en la actualidad todavía hay un aire súper capitalista alrededor del trabajo de basquiat, es una pena. siempre lo he admirado y ahora aún más.
la redacción del libro es 10/10, solo me hubiera gustado un análisis mejor explicado de todos los elementos presentes en sus obras.
la redacción del libro es 10/10, solo me hubiera gustado un análisis mejor explicado de todos los elementos presentes en sus obras.
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