Basquiat (Hardcover)

by Marc Mayer (Author), Jean Michel Basquiat (Author), Fred Hoffman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A stunningly designed landmark publication celebrating the astonishing work of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988), whose meteoric and often controversial career lasted for only eight years until his death at the age of twenty-seven. Basquiat features spectacular reproductions of Basquiat’s work, including many rarely exhibited pieces from private collections and offers fresh new perspectives on Basquiat’s achievements, explored in the contexts of the key influences on his work, including Picasso, Matisse and Twombly; the development of hip-hop culture; and the emergence of a multicultural society. Explores many of Basquiat’s individual works in detail, with particular reference to his working methods and techniques and accompanies a major travelling exhibition. This is an indispensable book that will appeal to anyone interested in contemporary art.

About the Author
Marc Mayer, formerly Deputy Director of the Brooklyn Museum, New York, is Director of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. He is a noted critic and curator of contemporary art.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Merrell (March 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185894287X
• ISBN-13: 978-1858942872
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #745,341 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

14 of 15 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 11 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 (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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