Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) - In Italian - Artestar licensed print

Photolithograph by Jean-Michel Basquiat (*)
High-quality reproduction of the artwork 'In Italian,' created by Basquiat in 1983.
Deluxe edition on high grammage Monte Carlo watercolor paper (300 g/m2)
Authorized impression by Artestar New York.
Copyright of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Specifications

Support dimensions: 50 x 45 cm
- Stain dimensions: 40 x 35 cm
Condition: Excellent (this artwork has never been framed or exhibited, and has always been kept in a professional art folder, thus it is offered in perfect condition).

The work will be carefully handled and packaged in a reinforced flat cardboard box. The shipment will be certified with a tracking number, operated by the best courier companies (UPS, DPD, DHL, FedEx).

The shipment will also include full insurance for the final value of the work with full reimbursement in case of loss or damage, at no cost to the buyer.

(*) Jean-Michel Basquiat was the first of three children born to Matilde Andrades and Gerard Basquiat. His father was a Haitian accountant of considerable means, and his mother a highly respected Puerto Rican graphic designer. Jean-Michel grew up in a troubled family environment; his parents divorced, and as a result, he had to change schools many times. He studied at a private Catholic school, then at a public school, and finally, at age 16, he enrolled at City-As-School, a school for gifted teenagers, from which he was expelled for rebellious behavior a year before graduating.
Even in his youth, he came into contact with the big-city subculture associated with drug use and street gangs. In 1977, along with Al Díaz, he entered the world of graffiti, painting on subway cars and in the SoHo area, a New York neighborhood where art galleries abound.
The following year, he dropped out of school a year before graduating high school and left home to live on the streets for two years, in abandoned buildings or with friends in Lower Manhattan, surviving by selling postcards and T-shirts that he decorated himself. He continued to dedicate himself to graffiti; his paintings and writings were highly poetic and philosophical, but above all, satirical. The pseudonym of his alter ego, shared with Al Díaz, was SAMO (an acronym for "Same Old Shit"), which they both used to sign their tags and graffiti with cryptic messages. The use of this name was decisive in his life.
These murals bore inscriptions such as “SAMO saves idiots” or “SAMO puts an end to religious brainwashing, the politics of nothingness, and false philosophy.” An article about SAMO’s street writing published in The Village Voice was the first indication that the art world was taking an interest in him.
The artist had several relationships that influenced his work, one of the most significant being with the artist Andy Warhol.
In his love life, he was involved with several women, one of the most well-known being Madonna. They lived in Lower Manhattan at the time, and it was in 1982 that they began spending more time together and going to parties in galleries. One thing that united them, she mentioned in an interview, was that "I was a big fan of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker."
In 1988, exhibitions were held in Paris and New York, and in April of that year, he attempted to overcome his addictions and retreated to his home in Hawaii. He returned to New York in June, announcing his liberation from addiction, but on August 12, 1988, at the age of 27, he died of a heroin overdose, becoming the most successful visual artist in the history of African American art. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Throughout his brief but intense artistic career, he held more than 40 solo exhibitions and participated in around 100 group shows. Self-promotion and publicity were paramount for Basquiat, as they had been previously for Andy Warhol and Julian Schnabel.
Neo-expressionism gradually prevailed over appropriationism, partly due to the economic boom that drove art prices, especially for paintings, to soaring levels, and partly thanks to the support of gallery owners and collectors. Critical assessment, however, was not unanimous, and the lack of a theoretical foundation for the neo-expressionist discourse was frequently denounced. It was argued that the art practiced by the neo-expressionists lacked any political or social significance; it was merely a commodity and, therefore, subject to the whims and fluctuations of the market. Neo-expressionist painting was thus reduced to a consumer product and, as such, considered creatively disqualified and vulgar.