Basquiat, Jean-Michel, << BAHS kwee aht, zhahn mee SHEHL >> (1960-1988), was a black American artist whose paintings became known for their vivid, complex images. Basquiat’s mother was born in the Brooklyn section of New York City of Puerto Rican parents and his father was Haitian. He particularly drew his inspiration from black history, cartoons and comic strips, and graffiti (words or drawings scratched or painted on public walls).
Basquiat was born on Dec. 22, 1960, in Brooklyn. When he was 17, he left home and began his art career selling hand-painted T-shirts and postcards and spraying graffiti on walls. He gradually began to work on canvas. His paintings combine scrawled words, such as names, phrases, and mottoes, with assorted faces, figures, and parts of figures. Many of these forms resemble cartoons, African masks, robots, or skulls. In 1980, his work was exhibited for the first time in a group show of experimental art held in a vacant building. By 1982, Basquiat’s reputation had spread throughout the New York art world. The pop artist Andy Warhol advised him, promoted his career, and worked on many paintings with him. Basquiat died of a drug overdose on Aug. 12, 1988, at the age of 28, just as his art was beginning to mature. His friend and fellow artist Julian Schnabel wrote and directed a film about his life, Basquiat (1996).
