The bestselling monograph in XXL format, now available in a compact edition. Exquisite reproductions of the most outstanding paintings, drawings and sketches, accompanied by texts by the editor Hans Werner Holzwarthy Holzwarthy, curator and art historian Eleanor Nairne, bring us closer to the artist who symbolises New York in the 1980s.

Brilliant Basquiat

An unprecedented reflection on Basquiat's art and work.

The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) remains intact: a symbol of New York in the 1980s, the artist began his career in the late 1970s under the pseudonym SAMO, filling the city's walls with graffiti containing biting messages and fragments of poems. He was part of a booming underground scene of artists of all kinds, who dabbled in fine art, graffiti, hip-hop, post-punk and cineamateur.Basquiat, a painter with a powerful personal voice, soon found success in more conventional settings and exhibited in galleries around the world.
Basquiat's expressive style was based on rudimentary figures to which he added words and phrases. His work inspired a cast of jazz, boxing and basketball celebrities, with references to esoterica and street life. When asked about the main theme of his work, Basquiat replied royalty, heroism and the streets. In 1983 he began collaborating with the art world's most famous star, Andy Warhol, and in 1985 he was on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. By the time Basquiat died at the age of 27, he had become one of the most successful artists of his time.
Originally published in an XXL edition, this previously unpublished look at Basquiat's art is now available in a compact, accessible volume to celebrate TASCHEN's 40th anniversary. Through impeccable reproductions of his most outstanding paintings, drawings and sketches, you can admire the artist's complex signs and cryptic doodles in detail and delve deeper into his world thanks to an introduction by editor Hans Werner Holzwarthy an essay on his themes and creative evolution by curator and art historian Eleanor Nairne. Organised by year and lavishly illustrated, the chapters trace Basquiat's life with quotations from the artist himself and reviews that provide the reader with both a personal perspective and historical context.

About the editor

Hans Werner Holzwarthes is a book designer and editor of numerous publications, mainly on contemporary art and photography. For TASCHEN he has produced a series of monographs in Collector's Edition, including those onJeff Koons,Christopher Wool,Albert Oehlen,Ai Weiwei;the SUMODavid Hockney. A Bigger Book, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, in XXL format.

About the author

Eleanor Nairnees is curator of art at the Barbican Art Gallery, London. She has worked on a number of critically acclaimed exhibitions and publications, including Basquiat: Boom for Real (2017) and Imran Qureshi: Where the Shadows are so Deep (2016). Prior to the Barbican, she curated the Artangel collection at Tate. She is a regular catalogue essayist, publishes in Friez magazine and was writer-in-residence for the Jerwood Visual Arts programme.

Publisher: Taschen