Fav Artist Fridays!

Allow me to introduce you to Jean-Michel Basquiat, a famous American artist with an uncanny ability to infuse emotion and movement into his work. Jean-Michel was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother. He was very smart and a great artist even as a kid. By age 11, he could speak, read, and write fluently in Spanish, English, and French.

Unfortunately, as talented as he was, he still had a difficult childhood. His mom encouraged him to draw and paint but his parents separated when he was eight, so his father raised him and his two sisters. That same year, Jean-Michel was hit by a car while playing in the street and suffered some pretty serious internal injuries. He also ran away a few times and dropped out of school in the tenth grade, at which point he was forced to sleep at friends' houses and sell t-shirts and handmade postcards to make ends meet. A little while later, he began writing graffiti under the pseudonym SAMO (pronounced same-oh, short for the phrase "same old") with his friend Al Diaz. This was the start of his career as a real artist.

SAMO graffiti on a building
in Lower Manhattan

SAMO graffiti with the trademark copyright
symbol Basquiat and Diaz used

SAMO graffiti found in NYC from 1976 - 79

After the dissolution of Diaz and Basquiat's friendship,
SAMO IS DEAD tags appeared throughout the city

After their friendship ended, Basquiat began participating in art shows like The Times Square Show in 1980. His primitive-style paintings incorporated text with images--a throwback to his days as a graffiti artist--and he became an important figure in the Neo-Expressionist movement. Artforum magazine published his painting The Radiant Child and he quickly gained recognition throughout the art world. He even became friends with another Fav Artist--Andy Warhol! Jean-Michel was also featured on the cover of The New York Times.



Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (fire hydrant) 

by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1982



Untitled

Trumpet by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1984

Sadly, Basquiat suffered from depression and drug addiction. After Andy Warhol died in 1987, Jean-Michel became very sad and isolated himself from his friends and family. He died of a drug overdose later the next year. He was only 27.

Jean-Michel has a painting in the High's permanent collection, just like his friend Andy. Contact the museum and go check it out! For more information about this prolific African American artist, a gallery of his pieces, some of his famous quotes, and a collection of artworks dedicated to him by his closest friends visit www.basquiat.com.