Jean-Michel Basquiat was described as a primitivist painter.

I think part of the reason is because he used a lot of earth and sky tones like browns, oranges, yellows, and blues. Therefore I thought it was a natural choice for me to use the artists favorite colors when creating this timeline. I used these colors to create a chaotic background image that I feel mirrored his troubled life. Jean-Michel Basquiat started as a gra ti artist. In the world of gra ti, ones handstyle is one of an artists most de ning characteristics. Jean-Michel Basquiat had a very unique signature that he signed his artworks with. I used this signature to create an alphabet that I imagine would be very similar to how Jean-Michel would have written it. I used letters already in his name to create the other letters. For example, I used the T at the end of Basquiat to create the P.

Background Image

Jean-Michel Basquiats signature

85, 78, 0, 0

13, 0, 95, 0

6, 41, 96, 0

1981
Sold for 11 Million dollars in 2007

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. He began as an obscure gra ti artist in New York City in the late 1970s and evolved into an acclaimed Neo-expressionist and Primitivist painter by the 1980s. Throughout his career Basquiat focused on "suggestive dichotomies," such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. Basquiat's art utilized a synergy of appropriation, poetry, drawing and painting, which married text and image, abstraction and guration, and historical information mixed with contemporary critique.

1982 1983
Sold for 15 million dollars in 2013

1984 1983 1984

1st edition print sold for $32,500 Sold for 3.8 Million dollars in 1996

1986
When Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987, Basquiat became increasingly isolated, and his heroin addiction and depression grew more severe. Despite an attempt at sobriety during a trip to Maui, Hawaii, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose at his art studio in Great Jones Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood. He was 27.

1981 1981 1982 1983

1984 1983

1985 1987

Jean-Michel Basquiat Source Text

JeanMichelBasquiat(December22,1960August12,1988)wasanAmericanartist.He beganasanobscuregraffitiartistinNewYorkCityinthelate1970sandevolvedintoan acclaimedNeoexpressionistandPrimitivistpainterbythe1980s. ThroughouthiscareerBasquiatfocusedon"suggestivedichotomies,"suchaswealthversus poverty,integrationversussegregation,andinnerversusouterexperience.Basquiat'sartutilized asynergyofappropriation,poetry,drawingandpainting,whichmarriedtextandimage, abstractionandfiguration,andhistoricalinformationmixedwithcontemporarycritique.Utilizing socialcommentaryasa"springboardtodeepertruthsabouttheindividual",Basquiat'spaintings alsoattackedpowerstructuresandsystemsofracism,whilehispoeticswereacutelypolitical anddirectintheircriticismofcolonialismandsupportforclassstruggle. FredHoffmanhypothesizesthatunderlyingBasquiatssenseofhimselfasanartistwashis "innatecapacitytofunctionassomethinglikeanoracle,distillinghisperceptionsoftheoutside worlddowntotheiressenceand,inturn,projectingthemoutwardthroughhiscreativeacts." Additionally,continuinghisactivitiesasagraffitiartist,Basquiatoftenincorporatedwordsintohis paintings.Beforehiscareerasapainterbegan,heproducedpunkinspiredpostcardsforsaleon thestreet,andbecameknownforthepoliticalpoeticalgraffitiunderthenameofSAMO.Onone occasionBasquiatpaintedhisgirlfriend'sdresswiththewords"LittleShitBrown".Hewould oftendrawonrandomobjectsandsurfaces,includingotherpeople'sproperty.Theconjunction ofvariousmediaisanintegralelementofBasquiat'sart.Hispaintingsaretypicallycoveredwith textandcodesofallkinds:words,letters,numerals,pictograms,logos,mapsymbols,diagrams andmore. By1986,BasquiathadlefttheAnninaNoseigallery,andwasshowinginthefamousMaryBoone galleryinSoHo.OnFebruary10,1985,heappearedonthecoverofTheNewYorkTimes Magazineinafeatureentitled"NewArt,NewMoney:TheMarketingofanAmericanArtist".He wasasuccessfulartistinthisperiod,buthisgrowingheroinaddictionbegantointerferewithhis personalrelationships.WhenAndyWarholdiedonFebruary22,1987,Basquiatbecame increasinglyisolated,andhisheroinaddictionanddepressiongrewmoresevere.Despitean attemptatsobrietyduringatriptoMaui,Hawaii,BasquiatdiedonAugust12,1988,ofaheroin overdoseathisartstudioinGreatJonesStreetinNewYorkCity'sNoHoneighborhood.Hewas 27.BasquiatwasinterredinBrooklyn'sGreenWoodCemetery.