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Pioneering DIY artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is the subject of a new 500+ page art book

Taschen’s legendary art catalogue has just grown bigger with a new 500+ page monograph detailing the life and art of acclaimed New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Art of Storytelling, authored by Eleanor Nairne and edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth, is filled to the brim with large-scale reproductions of the late artist’s drawings, paintings and notebook pages, as well as several essays guiding the reader through Basquiat’s career in a year-by-year run-through from 1978 to his premature death at 27 in 1988.

The life and art of Jean-Michel Basquiat are the subjects of Taschen’s mammoth latest release.

The enigmatic Basquiat, who was of Haitian and Puerto Rican heritage, was a seminal figure in the underground art scene of Brooklyn in the ’70s and ’80s and eternalised the possibilities of art, music and social critique in New York.

Taschen also provides readers with an in-depth analysis of the cultural revolution of which Basquiat was in the centre. Writes the publishers:

“The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat is as strong as ever. Synonymous with New York in the 1980s, the artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city.”

“He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip-hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world. As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world.”

Take a closer look at some of Basquiat’s best works below:

Anthony Clarke, 1985 Acrylic, oil, oilstick, and photocopy collage on wood, 244 x 139 cm / 96 x 54 3/4 inches Photo: Courtesy Lio Malca Copyright: © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

 

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hans Werner Holzwarth, Eleanor Nairne Hardcover, 29 x 39.5 cm, 500 pages US$ 200 | £ 150 | € 150, All images courtesy of TASCHEN

 

Self-Portrait, 1982 Acrylic and oilstick on linen, 193 x 239 cm / 76 x 94 inches Photo: Rob McKeever, courtesy Gagosian Copyright: © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

 

Untitled (Two on Gold), 1982 Acrylic and oilstick on canvas, 203 x 317.5 cm / 80 x 125 inches Photo: Courtesy Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris Copyright: © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York
Black, 1986 Acrylic, oilstick, photocopy collage, and wood collage on panel, 127 x 92 x 21.5 cm / 50 x 36 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches Photo: Courtesy Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris Copyright: © The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York

 

Via Colossal.