If you want to see only paintings by the artist Basquiat with a description in English and Russian (translation) and indicating the year, then click on the picture above or follow this link on our website. Our selection of 18 paintings in good resolution.
And in this article...
Brief Biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat
American artist. He first became famous as a graffiti artist in New York, and then as a very successful neo-expressionist (in the 1980s).
Born in Brooklyn (New York) on December 22, 1960. His mother (Matilda) was from Puerto Rico, and his father (Gerard) was of Haitian descent. Therefore, Michel spoke fluent French, Spanish and English languages. From childhood he showed interest in art.
At the age of 17, he began drawing graffiti on city walls, signing “SAMO” or “SAMO shit.”
In June 1980, Basquiat took part in The Times Square Show, a collective exhibition of artists.
In 1982, Basquiat met Andy Warhol. Further, with whom he often collaborated. Basquiat's friends are starting to notice him strange behavior caused by drug use.
Exhibitions of Basquiat's works quickly attracted the attention of art critics and collectors. Later this a group of artists will be called neo-expressionists.
Working together with Andy Warhol, the artists significantly influenced each other's work. The relationship broke down due to Warhol's death in 1987. The news of his friend's death greatly influenced Basquiat: he began to paint tragic paintings on the theme of death.
Basquiat became addicted to heroin during his years living among New York street artists. Jean-Michel Basquiat died of drug poisoning (he mixed cocaine and heroin) in his studio in 1988 at the age of 27.
This is one of my few favorite artists who has influenced and influences my work.
I even drew his portrait.
On some sites that deal with reproductions, there is a service for repeating a painting by a given artist for ridiculous money. I believe that this artist is simply impossible to repeat. It's better to take a picture and print it, rather than trying to repeat his masterpieces, which a priori will not work.
Sotheby's experts discovered an invisible inscription on the artist's canvas.
"Thirty years ago the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat secretly signed one of his paintings with invisible ink", says the Sotheby's auction house, which discovered a hidden autograph when preparing the painting for sale.
We are talking about the painting "Orange Sports Figure", which experts valued at between 3 and 4 million pounds sterling.
Basquiat's paintings are often covered in words or obscure scribbles. But its full name The artist rarely left anything under the paintings. Almost always used the pseudonym SAMO. For example, this is how many of his graffiti on the walls of buildings in Manhattan are signed.
And with the help of ultraviolet radiation under layers of acrylic and aerosol paints The artist's name and date were found on the painting: 1982. According to the head of the department contemporary art Sotheby's in Europe Schenn Westphal, employees were surprised and puzzled by the signature.
“No one probably knew about this invisible inscription. We are attracted by the prospect that he could have left other inscriptions on his canvases that are only visible in ultraviolet light» , she said.
As a result, the painting was sold for 4 million pounds sterling ($6.3 million), which, however, is not a record for paintings by this artist. The highest amount paid for a Basquiat work was $14.6 million. It was at this price that an untitled painting that Basquiat painted in 1981 was auctioned in 2007.
Jean-Michel Basquiat is an American graffiti artist and neo-expressionist. His bright style developed largely under the influence of abstract expressionists, as well as the works of street graffiti artists. The popularity of Basquiat and his paintings increased in 1988 after the artist's death. It was classic for that time - from a drug overdose.
It often happens that paintings by artists increase in value several times after their death. A contemporary black artist from Brooklyn (USA) was no exception. Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died at the age of 27. His work “Untitled” (1982) at last year’s May auction at Sotheby’s was sold for a fabulous sum - $110,500,000. This is the most expensive painting ever sold on the art market and won first place in the ranking of American artists. It also takes 11th place in the top most expensive works of art peace.
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Jean-Michel Basquiat - “black Picasso”.
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Jean-Michel
Basquiat.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 in New York. At four years old, the boy already knew how to write, and by eleven he spoke three languages. While still very young, he began his artistic career with graffiti and street art, and was also interested in music. At the age of 22, fate brought him together with Andy Warhol, teaming up with whom they created many joint projects. And despite the big difference in age and skill, they became close friends.
A feature of the artist’s creations is the style of neo-expressionism, which combines graffiti and rock painting, and the theme of his work was personal experiences related to the situation of blacks in the United States in the 80s.
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The black artist’s star, having flashed brightly and quickly, faded just as quickly. However, he managed to leave behind a legacy that is valued at tens of millions of dollars.
According to statistics, the painting “Profit I” was auctioned for $5.5 million in 2002. In 2007, an untitled painting was sold at auction for $14.6 million. In 2013, the painting “Broken Heads” was sold for $48.8 million
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/0-mishel-001.jpg" alt="Dog. (1982).
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/219413676.jpg" alt="Logo. (1984).
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/0-mishel-006.jpg" alt="Boxing ring. (1981).
Street art, or “street art” is one of the varieties of modern fine art, which is distinguished by a distinctly urban style and motifs. Many of us think that graffiti is street art, but this is a misconception. In fact, graffiti is only a fraction of this cultural phenomenon. Along with graffiti, sculptural installations, posters, and stencils are part of street art.
Every detail of a work of street art, from the outline to the shades of paint, is a very important, integral component of the whole image, since all these details reflect the unique style of the creator in the metropolis environment. In street art, the most serious task is not to occupy the space for a future work of art, but to attract the viewer’s attention to one’s work, initiating a dialogue between the creator and the observer.
The themes of street art works most often become topical, burning issues of our time. This art generates a storm of emotions in the audience and their range is very wide: from paralyzing shock to inner spiritual rejoicing. It is worth noting that street art is not a foreign entity in the urban structure, but quite the contrary, it, like a mirror, reflects the model of life of the metropolis and its neighborhoods, demonstrates the mood of citizens and the speed of development of urban communications.
One of the brightest representatives of street art on a global scale is the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Unfortunately, his life was very short and tragic; Basquiat lived only 27 years. Many connoisseurs of contemporary art probably know about Jean-Michel in the context of his fruitful collaboration with the odious Andy Worgol, or perhaps thanks to the wonderful biographical feature film “Basquiat”, which was released in 1996.
What is the phenomenon of the work of a black master of illogical and often plotless New York graffiti? Perhaps no one can tell about Basquiat better than he did in his time through his works. But we'll try anyway.
Jean-Michel Basquiat spent his childhood and youth in Brooklyn. He was the eldest son of Matilde Andrades from Puerto Rico and Gerard Basquiat from Haiti. As a teenager, the guy became interested in urban wall paintings and inscriptions. His works, signed with the pseudonym “SAMO,” appeared on many walls of houses. The hobby for graffiti was preceded by Full time job over his own development, Jean-Michel was actively interested in culture, read a lot about symbolist artists, and studied mythology. Graffiti was followed by painting.
The artist plunged headlong into the bohemian life of New York. In a very short period of time, only a lazy art critic wrote about the black nugget from Brooklyn; Jean-Michel’s paintings became part of the American mainstream and were selling like hot cakes, at a price of at least $50,000!
A separate life and creative milestone for Basquiat was his fruitful friendship with Andy Vorgol. According to legend, they met in one of the Soho restaurants. The pioneer of pop art was pleasantly surprised and fascinated by the childishly frank manner of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The creative tandem of the young and somewhat naive Basquiat and the already “seasoned” Vorgol became very productive and successful for both of them. Their friendship continued until Andy Vorgol's death in 1987, and together the artists created several original and fresh installations.
It is with light hand Andy, Jean-Michel became a real star of the bohemian parties of New York; yesterday’s awkward teenager could boast of friendship with David Bowie and other iconic personalities of that period. In 1985, his portrait graced the cover of the iconic New York Times Magazine. Jean-Michel's creativity was not limited only to street art and fine arts, he became the founder and frontman of the band Gray, which played a lot in Manhattan clubs.
Even when he was a street artist, Jean-Michel became addicted to drugs, and this passion destroyed him on August 12, 1988. What is the outcome of the life of this extraordinary personality? A short career of less than 10 years, thousands of drawings, many of which are in US museums of modern art, colossal multimillion-dollar revenue from the sale of paintings (in 2007, one of Basquiat’s paintings was auctioned for $14.6 million).
You may be asking: what does Jean-Michel Basquiat have to do with today's street art? The most direct! What a self-taught black artist began in distant Brooklyn has reached us. Street art is steadily gaining momentum in Russia. Have you noticed that recently more and more large-scale art objects painted with all the colors of the rainbow have appeared in the capital? This is the notorious “street art”.
And that’s not all, the already traditional Moscow Urban Art Festival MOST Festival is taking place in Moscow. We wrote about last year's event several times: and.
More detailed information about the organizers' plans for 2013 (and there will definitely be a festival!) can be found on the official
Jean-Michel Basquiat (born Jean-Michel Basquiat, December 22, 1960, New York, USA - August 12, 1988, New York, USA) is an American artist. He became famous first as a graffiti artist in New York and then, in the 1980s, as a highly successful neo-expressionist.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Basquiat was born in New York - in Brooklyn. His mother, Matilda, was from Puerto Rico, and his father, Gerard, was of Haitian descent. Thanks to this, Michel, from childhood, spoke fluent French, Spanish and English, read books, including Symbolist poetry, myths and history. Already in early age he showed an aptitude for art, and his mother encouraged these aspirations.
In 1977, at the age of 17, Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz began drawing graffiti on the sides of buildings in Manhattan, signing "SAMO" or "SAMO shit."
In 1978, Basquiat left home and lived with friends, earning money selling T-shirts and postcards on the street. Also in the late seventies, Basquiat and his comrades organized the group Gray, which played in various clubs in Manhattan.
In June 1980, Basquiat took part in The Times Square Show, a collective exhibition of artists. In 1981, poet and art critic Rene Ricard published the article "The Radiant Child" in Artforum magazine, which propelled Basquiat's international career. Over the course of several next years Basquiat continues to exhibit his work in New York.
Since 1982, Basquiat has exhibited regularly with Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and Enzo Cucchi, a group of artists that art critics, curators and collectors would soon call the Neo-Expressionists.
The last period, from 1986 to his death in 1988, was marked by a new manner and new images.
His career did not last even ten years - from 1979 to 1988; During this time, Jean-Michel Basquiat created several hundred paintings and thousands of drawings, the best of which took their place in galleries such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Brooklyn Museum.
BASQUIAT AND WARHOL
In 1982, Basquiat met and together they created many collaborative works. They worked together and influenced each other's work. Basquiat was passionate about his work, but even though he spent all his time in the studio with Andy, he always returned home and continued to paint alone. Basquiat shows Warhol examples of his work, and Warhol is shocked by the young artist's drawings. They become friends. It was Andy who introduced him to the very heart of the bohemian artistic environment. 
Their friendship seems symbolic - as an elder of the avant-garde, Warhol gives Jean-Michel several good advice regarding the sale of works. Warhol has a fatherly attitude towards Basquiat, giving advice on healthy habits and exercise.
When asked how Warhol influenced the young artist, Basquiat replied: “Now I wear clean trousers all the time.”
Since February 22, 1988, after the death of his close friend, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel became depressed and isolated himself from the outside world. Jean-Michel began taking heroin and died of an overdose at the age of 27.
Today, Jean-Michel's works are among the most expensive in the world. Until 2002, the highest price paid for a Basquiat work was $3,302,500. On May 14, 2002, Basquiat's "Profit I" was put up for auction and sold for $5,509,500. In May 2007, Basquiat's "untitled" 1981 work was sold at auction for $14.6 million.
On May 16, 2013, the painting “Blizzarded Heads” was sold for $48.8 million at auction in New York.
