Basquiat [Paperback]

Marc Mayer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010

Jean-Michel Basquiat was only twenty-seven when he died in 1988, his meteoric and often controversial career having lasted for just eight years. Despite his early death, Basquiat's powerful A uvre has ensured his continuing reputation as one of modern art's most distinctive voices. Borrowing from graffiti and street imagery, cartoons, mythology and religious symbolism, Basquiat's drawings and paintings explore issues of race and identity, providing social commentary that is shrewdly observed and biting. This bestselling book, now available in a compact edition, celebrates Basquiat's achievements in the contexts of the key influences on his art. It not only re-evaluates the artist's principal works and their meaning, but also explains what keeps his painting relevant today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Each essay provides the reader with a different viewpoint on the man and his work, providing a critical insight for anyone who has an interest in Basquiat and the art world at the time he came to prominence in the 80's. — Magik City

About the Author

Fred Hoffman is Ahmanson Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Kellie Jones is Associate Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, New York. Marc Mayer is Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. Franklin Sirmans is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Menil Collection, Houston.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Merrell Publishers (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1858945194
• ISBN-13: 978-1858945194
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Arts & Photography > Schools, Periods & Styles > Contemporary Art

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better Basquiat catalogs available, July 28, 2005

By 

J. Lowe "cyclocross" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Basquiat (Hardcover)

I own over 40 Basquiat catalogs and recently attended the current show a LA MOCA. This catalog is merely mediocre. For starters, many of the pictures of the works do not adequately render the colors with the appropriate intensity. As an example, the pink in "Arroz con Pollo" is a shown with a darker, reddish tint to it whereas in the actual painting the pink is very vivid, almost neon bright. Most of the photos are ones that have been previously published in numerous other books and catalogs. The 4 essays from Marc Meyer, Franklin Sirmans, Fred Hoffman, and Kellie Jones are good but not great. Overall, it's a competent catalog. Not bad but certainly not great.

If you can only afford (or have room for) just one Basquiat catalog you're MUCH better off getting the book produced by the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1999. It features more works, better reproductions and essays Shafrazi, Glenn O'Brien, Peter Brant, Keith Haring, and Henry Geldzahler (to name a few) Yes, it costs more than this catalog but it's well worth it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An Unpardonable, Amatuerish Slop-Bucket, August 13, 2005

By 

Jason Lynn (Corona del Mar, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Basquiat (Hardcover)

I invite all professional photographers to comment on the level of "expertise" of the repros issued in this book. Several of the photos are out of focus--as in JMB's "Undiscovered Genius.." There is never any excuse, no matter how wide or tall the painting (some are 10 or more feet), for any work to be out-of focus. Other paintings have their original color so distorted or leeched that these repros are criminally inept.

This book should be re-called and the photos re-done. It's that bad. The Marshall book, which another reviewer praises, is vastly superior to this book, with the exception of one painting "Notary," which is better repro'd in this book. A few essays and several new works make the book acceptable, barely, for a collector, but even the art-auction catalogues issued by Sotheby's, Christies, Phillips, etc. have superior reproductions of JMB's work. This edition is truly a mockery of a professional art book. I suggest getting the Marshall book, or nearly any of the other books on JMB, esp. those from Germany or France, some of which appear on Ebay as well.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Rise of Multiculturalism, July 25, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Basquiat (Hardcover)

After spending an afternoon strolling the huge exhibition of the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat currently at MOCA in Los Angeles, the visual indulgence becomes repetitive and exhausting. Yes, the works are curated well, the museum spaces the installation artistically, and the access to the spectrum of Basquiat's output (including collaborative works with Andy Warhol and Francesco Clemente) is thorough. But it is a bit of visual overkill to monopolize a museum with works that are so similar that the original graffiti punch that initiated the brief career of this artist is lost.

This highly professional catalogue (monograph) that accompanies the exhibition is a book that should be read BEFORE visiting the museum. The writing is excellent, much attention is paid to the time into which Basquiat emerged, the sociological importance of placing a graffiti artist's works in private galleries and in museums, and indeed the visual manifestation of the Hip Hop movement that Basquiat's works on paper and canvas represent prepares us for a show that subsequently becomes far more important. Quite a change from the usual 'catalogue as souvenir' concept so traditional in museums and galleries. This book stands alone as an art work: the reproductions are generous and well color-keyed, the essays are first rate, and the documentation of the works by Basquiat is in essence a Catalogue raisonné.

So whether or not you have access to this traveling exhibition should not influence whether you add this important book to your library. It simply is that fine! Grady Harp, July 05