Jean-Michel Basquiat went from the streets of New York to the walls of its most important galleries, fast.
This TASCHEN introduction follows that short, prolific, and politicized career, and the way Basquiat became a cult figure of artistic social commentary. It is a compact entry point into one of the most charged bodies of work of the late twentieth century, and it takes the work seriously as both image and argument.
The book is especially good on sources. Basquiat drew from inspirations as varied as Greek, Roman, and African art, French poetry, and jazz, then pushed them through a style that felt raw and immediate. The result was visceral images that mix word with bold color: crossed-out text, lists, crowns, skulls, and figures that look like they were drawn at speed and meant every line.
That mix of text and image is why Basquiat still reads so clearly to anyone who works in graphic communication. His canvases behave like notebooks, posters, and manifestos at once. Words are repeated, struck through, and copyrighted, history and anatomy collide with cartoons and street signs, and the color hits before the meaning does.
He also belonged to a very specific moment. Downtown New York in the late 1970s and 1980s, where graffiti, punk, hip-hop, galleries, and nightlife overlapped, gave him a stage. He used it to talk about race, power, money, and fame with a directness that the art world was not used to hearing.
In Signals, Basquiat sits where he belongs: next to the books that remind you a mark can be fast, rough, and still say everything.
About Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) was an American artist born in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to a Haitian father and a Brooklyn-born mother of Puerto Rican descent. In the late 1970s he was half of SAMO, the graffiti duo with Al Diaz, writing cryptic epigrams across Lower Manhattan, and by the early 1980s he was a leading figure of Neo-expressionism. When he was seven and recovering from being hit by a car, his mother gave him a copy of Gray's Anatomy.
Key Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings include Untitled (Skull) (1981), Charles the First (1982), Hollywood Africans (1983), Horn Players (1983) and King Zulu (1986). His work fuses poetry, drawing and painting, text and image, abstraction, figuration and history. He drew on his Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage, on jazz heroes such as Charlie Parker, and on his experience as a Black American to challenge power structures and racism.
In June 1982, at 21, he became the youngest artist ever to take part in Documenta in Kassel. He died of a heroin overdose at his Great Jones Street home in Manhattan on August 12, 1988, aged 27. In 2017 his 1982 painting Untitled, a black skull, sold for $110.5 million. For anyone mixing type and image, Basquiat's canvases are a master class in words as raw material.
Why Basquiat still matters
Basquiat still matters because he proved that text, symbol, and color could carry social commentary without losing any visual force. His work bridged street culture and the gallery, and its influence runs through painting, graphic design, fashion, and music. The questions he raised about who gets seen, and who gets paid, have not gone away.
Who this book is for
For artists, illustrators, graphic designers, art directors, and students. For filmmakers and the RIOT and vandal_ crowd who mine art history for energy and attitude. And for anyone who wants a clear, illustrated way into Basquiat's work before going deeper.
Product details
-
Title: Basquiat
-
Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat
-
Publisher: TASCHEN
-
Language: English
-
Focus: Basquiat's career from the streets of New York to its galleries, and his influences from Greek, Roman, and African art to French poetry and jazz
-
Category: Art, print book
FAQ
What is this Basquiat book about?
It introduces Jean-Michel Basquiat's short, prolific, and politicized career, from the streets of New York to its most prominent galleries.
Is it a good first Basquiat book?
Yes. TASCHEN presents it as an introduction, so it works well as an accessible starting point.
Does it cover his influences?
Yes. It explores how he drew on Greek, Roman, and African art, along with French poetry and jazz, to create images mixing word with bold color.
