Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960, New York, USA - 1988, New York, USA) was an American neo-expressionist painter.
Jean-Michel Basquiat is reputed as a rebel and provoker; at the same time, the childish style of his works has been highlighted. Although Basquiat died at 27, hardly any large auctions or fairs of contemporary art are held without his works. The artist whose works nowadays fetch tens of millions of dollars started off his career in the streets. The son of a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother, at 17, he painted graffiti on the walls of Manhattan reviewed in the media! At 18, he left home, moonlighting in the streets and playing with a band in city clubs. In 1980 he participated in the collective exhibit "the Times Square then of The Show", and the next year was featured in the article «the Radiant Child of The» published in Artforum. This cemented his fame. In 1982 Basquiat met Andy Warhol. Their friendship and collaboration yielded numerous prominent works ended in 1987 when Warhol passed away. In 1988 Basquiat tragically died of a drug overdose. Jean-Michel Basquiat's phrase "Every line means something" has become proverbial.