Art · 20th century
1960–1988 · American
Neo-expressionism — from downtown graffiti to the gallery
Jean-Michel Basquiat went from spraying cryptic slogans on Lower Manhattan walls as SAMO to international stardom in about three years. His paintings crowd skulls, crowns, anatomical diagrams, jazz and boxing heroes and crossed-out words onto raw canvas, attacking racism and art-world exclusion. He died of a heroin overdose at 27.
A blue-black skull-like head on a turquoise ground, bought by a Japanese billionaire in 2017 for $110.5 million (1982)
Private collection (Yusaku Maezawa)
Then the highest auction price for any American artist's work
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia
A black officer with a white hat scribbled over his head, the badge of a man policing his own people (1981)
Private collection
Irony of Negro Policeman
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia
Three black figures on a yellow ground beneath crossed-out film-world words, painted after the artist's first trip to Los Angeles (1983)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
With Toxic and Rammellzee, painted on a trip to Los Angeles
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia
Two blue policemen with batons attack a faceless black figure, painted on a wall of Andy Warhol's studio after a graffiti artist died in police custody (1983)
Private collection
Michael Stewart died after being arrested for tagging a subway wall
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia
Two red and yellow heads with staring eyes against black, from the artist's most productive year (1982)
Private collection
Dustheads, named for users of PCP
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia
A dark figure, a barking dog and a burst fire hydrant on a Brooklyn street corner (1982)
Private collection
A 'johnny pump' is New York slang for a fire hydrant
No free image available (likely still in copyright) · see it on Wikipedia