Schnabel, Julian (1951-…), is an American artist and filmmaker. Starting in the late 1970’s, he emerged as an important figure in the Neoexpressionism movement, characterized by paintings that emphasized dramatic brushwork and vivid colors. Many of Schnabel’s paintings display heavily textured surfaces. He often painted directly onto broken ceramic plates attached to the canvas. One of his best-known works in this style was Humanity Asleep (1982). Schnabel has been criticized for the brutality of his work but also praised for his brash style and his innovations involving the use of unconventional materials.
Schnabel began his film career directing Basquiat (1996), a biography of the American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Schnabel also directed Before Night Falls (2000), a biography of the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), a study of the French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was paralyzed by a stroke; and Miral (2011), the story of a Palestinian girl growing up amid the Arab-Israeli conflict in Jerusalem.
Schnabel was born on Oct. 26, 1951, in New York City. He held his first one-person show in 1979.
