Jean-Michel Basquiat

(American, 1960–1988)

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an influential African-American artist who rose to success during the 1980s. Basquiat’s paintings are largely responsible for elevating graffiti artists into the realm of the New York gallery scene. His spray-painted crowns and scribbled words referenced everything from his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage, to political issues, pop-culture icons, and Biblical verse. The gestural marks and expressive nature of his work not only aligned him with the street art of Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, but also the Neo-Expressionists Julian Schnabel and David Salle. “If you wanna talk about influence, man, then you've got to realize that influence is not influence,” he said of his process. “It's simply someone's idea going through my new mind.” Born on December 22, 1960 in Brooklyn, NY, Basquiat never finished high school but developed an appreciation for art as a youth, from his many visits to the Brooklyn Museum of Art with his mother. His early work consisted of spray painting buildings and trains in downtown New York alongside his friend Al Diaz. The artist’s tag was the now infamous pseudonym SAMO. After quickly rising to fame in the early 1980s, Basquiat was befriended by many celebrities and artists, including Andy Warhol, with whom he made several collaborative works. At only 27, his troubles with fame and drug addiction led to his tragic death from a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988 in New York, NY. The Whitney Museum of American Art held the artist’s first retrospective from October 1992 to February 1993. In 2017, after having set Basquiat’s auction record the previous year with a $57.3 million purchase, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa surpassed it, buying the artist’s Untitled (1982) at Sotheby's for $110.5 million. This set a new record for the highest price ever paid at auction for an American artist's work. Today, Basquiat's works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, among others.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Artworks

Jean-Michel Basquiat (3,840 results)
50 Cent Piece, 2019

After Jean-Michel Basquiat

50 Cent Piece, 2019

SBI Art Auction Co., Ltd.

Est. 3,500,000–5,500,000 JPY

50 Cent Piece, 2020

Jean-Michel Basquiat

50 Cent Piece, 2020

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

A Panel of Experts, 2022

Jean-Michel Basquiat

A Panel of Experts, 2022

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

Undiscovered Genius, 2019

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Undiscovered Genius, 2019

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art

Price on Request

Dog Leg Study, 2019

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Dog Leg Study, 2019

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art

Price on Request

King Brand, 2019

Jean-Michel Basquiat

King Brand, 2019

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art

Price on Request

Wolf Sausage, 2019

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Wolf Sausage, 2019

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art

Price on Request

Untitled, 1982

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled, 1982

Omer Tiroche Gallery

1,200,000–1,600,000 USD

Campaign, 1984

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Campaign, 1984

Sotheby's New York

Est. 8,000,000–12,000,000 USD

Untitled, 1981

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Untitled, 1981

Sotheby's New York

Est. 7,000,000–10,000,000 USD

Untitled, 1984

Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol

Untitled, 1984

Sotheby's New York

Est. 15,000,000–20,000,000 USD

Ernok, 1982

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Ernok, 1982

ArtLife Gallery

Contact Gallery

Boxer Rebellion, 1982

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Boxer Rebellion, 1982

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

Rome Pays Off, 2004

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Rome Pays Off, 2004

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

50 Cent Piece, 2020

Jean-Michel Basquiat

50 Cent Piece, 2020

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

Phooey, 2021

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Phooey, 2021

Guy Hepner

Price on Request

Flexible, 1984–2016

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Flexible, 1984–2016

Taglialatella Galleries

Price on Request

Charles The First, 2004

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Charles The First, 2004

Thou Art

Price on Request

Flash In Naples, 2021

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Flash In Naples, 2021

Hang-Up Gallery

56,000 GBP