Jean-Michel Basquiat
American·1960–1988
J
Jean-Michel Basquiat
American
1960–1988
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent who went from graffiti-tagging buildings in lower Manhattan to selling paintings for millions before his death at 27. He started as one half of the street art duo SAMO, spraying cryptic phrases across SoHo and the East Village in the late 1970s.
Basquiat's paintings are raw, layered, and dense with text, symbols, crowns, skulls, and anatomical drawings. He tackled race, class, colonialism, and art history with a furious energy that made him one of the most important artists of the 1980s. His untitled 1982 skull painting sold for $110.5 million in 2017. Our collection includes 3 works at museums including The Broad in Los Angeles.
Notable Works by Jean-Michel Basquiat
3 paintings catalogued with museum locations
Museums with Jean-Michel Basquiat's Work
2 museums display Basquiat's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
Related Artists
Other Expressionism artists you might like
About Jean-Michel Basquiat
Basquiat worked in Neo-Expressionism, combining graffiti, text fragments, crude figures, crowns, and anatomical drawings. His canvases are dense with references to African American history, jazz, boxing, and art historical figures.
The Broad in Los Angeles has several major works. The Whitney Museum in New York, MoMA, and major private collections hold key pieces. His work appears in retrospectives worldwide.
Basquiat died of a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988, at age 27. Despite a career spanning barely a decade, he produced roughly 1,500 drawings and 600 paintings that now sell for tens of millions.
Love Jean-Michel Basquiat's Style?
Explore art inspired by Expressionism.
Browse Collection