Jean-Michel Basquiat Handbook

Author : Jean-Michel Basquiat, Larry Warsh, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Henry Geldzahler 

Format: Paperback | 160 pages

Dimensions: 11.43 × 1.52 × 17.78 cm

Publication date: March 26, 2024

An accessible, pocket-sized introduction to the artist who dramatically altered the direction of art in the late 20th century

This guide offers a brief yet insightful overview of Jean-Michel Basquiat, an artist who is hugely popular but frequently misread. Led by Basquiat expert Larry Warsh, it stands out as one of the rare books of its type to receive official endorsement from the artist's estate and family, a meaningful mark of credibility amid the surrounding hype.

Jean-Michel Basquiat Handbook opens with a profile of the artist's early life, tracing his path from a gifted child in Brooklyn through a defiant adolescence, a rapid ascent to fame, and his untimely death. It then examines how his revolutionary style evolved through the subjects he returned to again and again, including city life, the human body, music, and sports. The final section features a selection of drawings from Basquiat's notebooks, a timeline of his life, and thought-provoking essays by scholars Henry Geldzahler and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Among the first African American artists to achieve global recognition and financial success in the art world, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) was admired for blending symbols from many cultures, pointed social critique, and a striking graphic style. His work has been shown in countless exhibitions worldwide and belongs to the collections of major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, to name only a few.