85, 78, 0, 0 13, 0, 95, 0 6, 41, 96, 0

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s signature

Jean-Michel Basquiat was described as a primitivist painter. I think part of the reason is because he used a lot of earth and sky tones like browns, oranges, yellows, and blues. Therefore I thought it was a natural choice for me to use the artist’s favorite colors when creating this timeline. I used these colors to create a chaotic background image that I feel mirrored his troubled life.

Jean-Michel Basquiat started as a gra�ti artist. In the world of gra�ti, one’s “handstyle” is one of an artist’s most de�ning characteristics. Jean-Michel Basquiat had a very unique signature that he signed his artworks with. I used this signature to create an alphabet that I imagine would be very similar to how Jean-Michel would have written it. I used letters already in his name to create the other letters. For example, I used the T at the end of Basquiat to create the P.

Background Image

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. He began as an obscure gra�ti artist in New York City in the late 1970s and evolved into an acclaimed Neo-expressionist and Primitivist painter by the 1980s. Throughout his career Basquiat focused on "suggestive dichotomies," such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. Basquiat's art utilized a synergy of appropriation, poetry, drawing and painting, which married text and image, abstraction and �guration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique.

1981

1982

1981

1981

1983

1982

19831984

1984 1986

1987

Sold for 11 Million dollars in 2007

Sold for 3.8 Million dollars in 1996

1984

Sold for 15 million dollars in 2013

1983

1st edition print sold for $32,500

1983

1985

When Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987, Basquiat became increasingly isolated, and his heroin addiction and depression grew more severe. Despite an attempt at sobriety during a trip to Maui, Hawaii, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose at his art studio in Great Jones Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood. He was 27.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Source Text

Jean­Michel Basquiat (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist. Hebegan as an obscure graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s and evolved into anacclaimed Neo­expressionist and Primitivist painter by the 1980s.

Throughout his career Basquiat focused on "suggestive dichotomies," such as wealth versuspoverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. Basquiat's art utilizeda synergy of appropriation, poetry, drawing and painting, which married text and image,abstraction and figuration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique. Utilizingsocial commentary as a "springboard to deeper truths about the individual", Basquiat's paintingsalso attacked power structures and systems of racism, while his poetics were acutely politicaland direct in their criticism of colonialism and support for class struggle.

Fred Hoffman hypothesizes that underlying Basquiat’s sense of himself as an artist was his"innate capacity to function as something like an oracle, distilling his perceptions of the outsideworld down to their essence and, in turn, projecting them outward through his creative acts."Additionally, continuing his activities as a graffiti artist, Basquiat often incorporated words into hispaintings. Before his career as a painter began, he produced punk­inspired postcards for sale onthe street, and became known for the political–poetical graffiti under the name of SAMO. On oneoccasion Basquiat painted his girlfriend's dress with the words "Little Shit Brown". He wouldoften draw on random objects and surfaces, including other people's property. The conjunctionof various media is an integral element of Basquiat's art. His paintings are typically covered withtext and codes of all kinds: words, letters, numerals, pictograms, logos, map symbols, diagramsand more.

By 1986, Basquiat had left the Annina Nosei gallery, and was showing in the famous Mary Boonegallery in SoHo. On February 10, 1985, he appeared on the cover of The New York TimesMagazine in a feature entitled "New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist". Hewas a successful artist in this period, but his growing heroin addiction began to interfere with hispersonal relationships. When Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987, Basquiat becameincreasingly isolated, and his heroin addiction and depression grew more severe. Despite anattempt at sobriety during a trip to Maui, Hawaii, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, of a heroinoverdose at his art studio in Great Jones Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood. He was27. Basquiat was interred in Brooklyn's Green­Wood Cemetery.