Jean Michel Basquiat (Paperback)

by Richard Marshall (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This is a survey of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), a key member of a group of New York artists who used the powerful images of graffiti to create a new expressive language. Published to accompany an exhibition held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 1992-93, the book contains illustrations reproducing paintings, drawings, collages, silkscreens, and constructions, many previously unpublished. The text includes essays by Dick Hebdige, Klaus Kertess, Richard Marshall, Rene Ricard, Greg Tate and Robert Farris Thompson. They explore Basquiat's artistic contributions from several perspectives.

Language Notes
Text: English, French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Whitney Museum (September 10, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810968142
• ISBN-13: 978-0810968141
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #966,466 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basquiat wasn't afraid to be his own man, June 15, 1999

By	Thomas Smith (Bentonville, AR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great book with many of Basquiat's paintings and drawings. It also has various essays by art critics and people who knew him. I suppose the reviewers who slammed Basquiat also think anybody could knock over a couple of paint buckets and be Jackson Pollock. The genius of Basquit in my mind is his ability to create truly beautiful paintings while painting in a seemingly uncontrolled, primitive (I hate that word) fashion. The way he layered colors, and added details is incredible. My favorite is "Untitled (Skull)" 1981. Here is a brilliant example of how Basquiat combines dissarray, ugliness, harmony, and beauty all into the same striking painting. I know Basquiat idolized Hendrix and ultimately went out much like he did, unable to cope with his talent and the attention it brought. To me Basquiat's painting very much mirrors Hendrix's musical talents. They both created wild, noisy, seemingly unharnessed, unpolished art. But to the careful, sensitive observer the true beauty and magic is revealed.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Catalogue, October 16, 2001

By	Daniel Garcia (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This is by far the best catalogue of Basquiat's work as it was shown at the Whitney. By far, this book superseed others as it relates to quality and quantity of plates. Strongly recomend.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FAST FORGET TUPA KNOWS, September 5, 2003

By	William Cordova "william" (overtown, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am not convinced that this is the BEST Jean Michel Basquiat retrospective catalogue to date...but the work selected for this publication is certainly consistently better than most others published before or after this one. Basquiats peak of productivity was from1981-83 and much of that work is catalogued here..But the dissapointment is that many of his last works (circa 1988) will not be found here....but in the more extensive Basquiat catalogue published by the Tony Shafrazi Gallery.
There are also a few images here that will make you wonder why they were selected and some of the text seems to over emphesize  
the fact that Basquiat died of a DRUG OVERDOSE.
You can skip the text or consider it ....it's the work that counts in the end!