Basquiat was painting on the streets of lower Manhattan before he was twenty. He started as one half of SAMO, a graffiti duo with Al Diaz that tagged cryptic, sardonic phrases across downtown New York: 'SAMO as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics and bogus philosophy.' When the partnership ended, he wrote 'SAMO IS DEAD' on the walls and moved on.
Key facts
- Lived
- 1960–1988, American
- Movement
- Works held in
- 18 museums[1]
Biography
He had no formal art training. He dropped out of school at seventeen and slept on park benches and friends' floors. He sold hand-painted postcards and t-shirts. He gate-crashed a restaurant where the critic Henry Geldzahler was eating with Andy Warhol and handed them a postcard. Warhol bought one. The art world opened.
By twenty-one he was showing in galleries. By twenty-two he was the youngest artist ever invited to Documenta in Kassel. The paintings are dense, layered, furious: text fragments, anatomical drawings, crown symbols, crossed-out words, references to Black history, jazz, boxing, anatomy textbooks, and street signage. They look unplanned but they are not. The crossed-out words are deliberate. He wanted you to read them, then register the erasure.
He and Warhol collaborated on a series of paintings in 1984 and 1985. The relationship was complicated by the art market's tendency to treat Basquiat as Warhol's protege rather than his peer, and by the fact that Warhol, older and more established, got better reviews for the joint work. Basquiat pulled away.
He died of a heroin overdose in 1988, at twenty-seven. His paintings now sell for over 100 million dollars. He would have found that both satisfying and absurd.
Timeline
- 1960Born on 22 December in Brooklyn, New York, to a Haitian-American father and a Puerto Rican mother.
- 1968At 8, was hit by a car in Brooklyn and given a copy of Gray's Anatomy in hospital, sparking a lifelong fascination with the human body.
- 1978At 17, began spray-painting cryptic epigrams across Lower Manhattan as one half of the graffiti duo SAMO with Al Diaz.
- 1981At 20, exhibited at the New York/New Wave show at P.S.1 in Queens, catapulting him from street artist to gallery sensation.
- 1982At 21, became the youngest artist ever to participate in Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany, and began collaborating with Andy Warhol in New York.
- 1983At 22, became one of the youngest artists to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York, cementing his position in the contemporary art world.
- 1985At 24, appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine, the first Black artist to achieve such mainstream recognition in America.
- 1988Died aged 27 from a heroin overdose in his Great Jones Street studio in Manhattan, leaving behind roughly 1,000 paintings and 2,000 drawings.
Notable Works
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Where to See Jean-Michel Basquiat
6 museums worldwide.
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8 works
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen - Robbrecht & Daem wing, Netherlands
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4 works
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City, United States
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3 works
Whitney Museum of American Art
Manhattan, United States
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2 works
Bavarian State Painting Collections
Munich, Germany
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1 works
Musée National d'Art Moderne
Centre Pompidou-Metz, France
Related Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
Jean michel basquiat art style name?
Jean-Michel Basquiat's paintings feature crudely drawn figures, handwritten phrases, and scientific formulae jumbled together on a multi-coloured background. The primitive and childlike images reflect his links with graffiti art.What is jean michel basquiat best known for?
Jean-Michel Basquiat is best known for his raw, gestural style of painting. He made the art of graffiti accepted within the mainstream art world, despite having no formal art training.What is jean michel basquiat famous for?
Jean-Michel Basquiat is famous for his graffiti-style art, which was an exciting addition to art galleries, where graffiti was not usually seen. His mother took him to museums as a boy in New York City, and encouraged him to draw.When did jean michel basquiat become famous?
Jean-Michel Basquiat was already a star by 1979, in a small avant-garde arena. By 1985, he appeared on the cover of the New York Times Magazine.When did jean-michel basquiat die?
Jean-Michel Basquiat died in 1988 at the age of 28.Where jean michel basquiat from?
Jean-Michel Basquiat was United States, born in 1960 and died in 1988.Who was jean michel basquiat influenced by?
References to Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Jean Dubuffet, and Robert Rauschenberg appear abundantly in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work and the criticism surrounding it.Jean michel basquiat art movement?
Jean-Michel Basquiat was part of a small avant-garde arena that would change the direction of American art.When did jean michel basquiat start painting?
Jean-Michel Basquiat was already a star by 1979. His graffiti-style art was an exciting addition to art galleries.Where did jean michel basquiat live?
Jean-Michel Basquiat's mother took him to museums as a boy in New York City.Where was jean michel basquiat born?
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960 in United States. Jean-Michel Basquiat died in 1988, aged 28.How did jean michel basquiat grow up?
Jean-Michel Basquiat's mother took him to museums as a boy in New York City, and encouraged him to draw. When he was growing up, graffiti was not usually seen in art galleries.
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Jean-Michel Basquiat.
- [1] museum San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum The Broad Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Princeton Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum Whitney Museum of American Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Dallas Museum of Art Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] book Dorling Kindersley, Artists: Inspiring Stories of the World's Most Creative Minds Used for: biography.
- [8] book Masterpieces of western art : a history of art in 900 individual studies from the Gothic to the present day Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-31. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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