Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure©

by Lisane Basquiat (Contributor), Jeanine Herveaux (Contributor), Nora Fitzpatrick (Contributor)

This landmark volume tells the story of Jean-Michel Basquiat from the intimate perspective of his family, intertwining his artistic endeavors with his personal life, influences, and the times in which he lived, and features for the first time work from the Estate’s largely unseen and significant collection of paintings, drawings, sketches, and ephemera.

Organized by the family of Basquiat, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue feature over 200 never before and rarely seen paintings, drawings, ephemera, and artifacts. The artist’s contributions to the history of art and his exploration into our multi-faceted culture—incorporating music, the Black experience, pop culture, African American sports figures, literature, and other sources—are showcased alongside personal reminiscences and firsthand accounts providing unique insight into Basquiat’s creative life and his singular voice that propelled the social and cultural narrative that continues to this day.
 
 Structured around key periods in his life, from his childhood and formative years, his meteoric rise in the art world and beyond, to his untimely death, the book features in-depth interviews with his surviving family members.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

336 pages, Hardcover

Published April 12, 2022

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great oral histories from those who knew the artist well

[Dankwa Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to the JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: KING PLEASURE© exhibition in New York City, April 18, 2022 and like the gospel classic “I know I’ve been changed” LOL

In the future if I mention “Basquiat” it will be for clarification purposes. Like many I’ve called him by the singular “Basquiat”, but after the exhibition and this accompanying catalogue, I will forever call him “Jean-Michel” because I feel like I know the boy, the son, the brother, the man SO MUCH MORE.

Through the exhibition and this catalogue you will learn about how an artist, a BLACK artist, who was so in touch with who he was and who his people were. He was “woke” way before that became a term. His work reflected that.

Through this catalogue you will also learn A LOT about Jean-Michel’s personality like his hospitality and his humor.

To be clear, I "ain’t gon front”, I didn’t know a lot about Jean-Michel beyond he was a famous Black artist named Basquiat and he was from Brooklyn like myself. When the exhibition debuted I thought I should check it out and I’m so glad I did!

The exhibition itself features more than 200 artworks and artifacts from the collection of the artist’s estate, most of which have never been seen and this accompanying catalogue features a lot more detail of the exhbition, especially personal passages and reflections from his family, primarily his sisters LISANE BASQUIAT, JEANINE HERVEAUX and his step-mother NORA FITZPATRICK, but many more who knew Jean-Michel are quoted.

If you can't get to New York to see the exhibition, I highly recommend this book. It goes into great detail about everything I saw. So much so that I'm strongly contemplating going again. Now that I've read this book I feel like I would enjoy it even more the second time around. His family did a wonderful wonderful job for Jean-Michel. I saw a quote that called this a “family album” and I feel like it’s exactly that. 🖤

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to see this exhibit in person in NYC in December. I had bought the catalogue in advance at the Menil. I was overwhelmed by the show and the catalog. Both were exquisite. The attention to detail recreating the family living room, dining room, Basquiat's studio, and the Palladium were incredible. The curation was superb. The family was so generous to share these intimate works with the world. I have been a Jean-Michel fan for many decades and I felt that I got to see another side of him through this exhibit. He truly was a genius in the sense that he always had to be creating and his breadth of interests.

[Tanza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of happening upon this exhibit on a brief trip to LA and was deeply impressed by the curation of the exhibit. Basquiat has become a super-human figure in the art world, his legacy so colored by the economics of art dealing that it's hard to see beyond his fame. His family has worked hard to humanize him, give us a better sense of the man as he lived, what caught his eye, how he held himself in the world, and where his roots lay. This catalog does a fantastic job of translating that story, even if there's no comparison to seeing the pieces in person. If you can, I'd highly recommend the exhibit.

[Desiree Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my very biased opinion. I loved this book. It's a great addition to the exhibition. I always told the guest the exhibition was very personal.... this catalog has more personal information and touches in it. Highly recommend for anyone who is a Basquiat Fan.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those pricy nice big fat Rizzoli books - thank you public library. As this was produced in collaboration with the family, lots of intersting family photos and details about his collections: books, movies and objects - which gave some insight beyond the usual.

[Caroline]

jean michel basquiat’s body of work is the embodiment of freedom. he didn’t speak of its meaning too much, leaving it to the audience to interpret. i aspire to be as free in my expression and unrelenting in my career as an artist.

[Maggie McQuillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully done by the family, their love is so raw