Professor Jan Yablow, Senior Docent and Lecturer at the Whitney Museum of American Art, analyzes the early works of renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He will present some of Warhol's masterpieces, talk about his career, and dive into the artist's background. This event is a part of the series about the artistic masterpieces of the 20th century selected from major museums across the globe to share and discuss. View works from major artists, hear amazing stories, and dive into the background of every artist, all while making connections between their artistic creations and considering the meaning of their work as it relates to your own experiences. Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 - 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al Diaz, writing enigmatic epigrams in the cultural hotbed of Manhattan's Lower East Side during the late 1970s, where rap, punk, and street art coalesced into early hip-hop music culture. By the early 1980s, his paintings were being exhibited in galleries and museums internationally. Since Basquiat's death at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose in 1988, his work has steadily increased in value. In 2017, Untitled, a 1982 painting depicting a black skull with red and yellow rivulets, sold for a record-breaking $110.5 million, becoming one of the most expensive paintings ever purchased.
Manhattan, New York, NY