Basquiat (Numbered/Signed Edition) [Hardcover]

Gerard Basquiat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

This book has over 250 of the highest quality color reproductions as well as essays by art historians, contemporaries and friends such as Fab Five Freddie, Richard Marshal and Glen O'Brien. The Limited edition is of 1000 copies signed and numbered by Tony Shafrazi.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The book is published, and has an extensive introduction by Tony Shafrazi who was one of the first people to discover the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He has run one of the most important galleries in SoHo for over twenty-five years

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tony Shafrazi Gallery (December 1, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 1891475185
• ISBN-13: 978-1891475184
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,410,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must have for any basquiat fan!, March 25, 2000

By 

brian mcdonald (sf, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basquiat (Hardcover)

this is the fifth book i have on basquiat and i am very happy to say that most of the works reproduced in this gorgeous book do not appear in any of the other books i have on him. the quality of the work is splendid and the reproductions are gorgeous! and the book is thick and a treat to look at! i would recommend it to anyone who loves basquiat's brillant works. the guy was a genius and he shines in this book!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars response to someone that thinks they know art, March 15, 2005

By 

Rodrigo Salazar (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Basquiat (Numbered/Signed Edition) (Hardcover)

the reviewer must know something everyone else in the world doesn't know. this book is even further proof of the genius of what basquiat did, and what he was able to accomplish in such a short career. just because you do not understand something does not mean it is not valid. that is the point of basquiat's work, which was so layered in meaning that many credit him with being a precursor to today's sampling craze. i suggest you read a little more into something before discounting one of the greatest artists of our generation.

16 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Crown for Tony Shafrazi?, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Basquiat (Hardcover)

I thought the excesses of the 1980's had long since passed but then comes along this massive (and expensive) volume on Jean-Michel Basquiat, one of the Kings of the 80's art scene two decades ago. Sadly, like much art from that period, Basquiat's faux-primitve paintings come across more like deliberate attempts at critical and commercial success than intuitive genius from a true visionary painter. The art world and its consumers were desperate and happy in the 80's to champion "street art" and graffiti with the growing popularity of folk art in the 1970's. The professional art world latched on to it's own, professional artists working in a vernacular style (Haring, Scharf, Basquiat) in order to appear open to less progromatic art. With folk art, critics and museums of modern art were caught looking backward and left behind. Urban street art, positioned as being more sophisticated and hip, was marketed to an eager consumer market. Is this truly great art? Is Basquiat worthy of a ...book signed by a gallery owner (seller)? Is this the best modern art has to offer? Looking at page after page in this retrospective book becomes a tedious task. The words don't add up to the great poetry of Dickens or Whitman. The artwork can be found in its purer form on the streets of any urban city. Try taking a walk through New York city and leave this book behind. ...