Photo: Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, CC BY-SA 4.0

Jean-Michel Basquiat

1960 – 1988 · died at about 28^[1][2]

Art

Fun Facts About Jean-Michel Basquiat

• Jean-Michel Basquiat was hit by a car at age seven, and in the hospital his mother gave him a copy of Gray's Anatomy, a book he used as a major reference throughout his career.^[1]
• Basquiat's graffiti tag SAMO began as a private joke with schoolmate Al Diaz, short for same old shit. He was later expelled from school for pieing the principal.^[1]
• Basquiat sold his first painting to Blondie singer Debbie Harry for $200 and appeared as a DJ in Blondie's Rapture video, a role originally meant for Grandmaster Flash.^[1]
• Basquiat dated a then-unknown Madonna and told his dealer Larry Gagosian that she was going to be huge.^[1]
• Andy Warhol took a Polaroid at his first lunch with Basquiat in 1982. Basquiat went home and within two hours sent back a still-wet painting of the two of them.^[1][3][4]
• Basquiat often painted in expensive Armani suits and wore the same paint-splattered clothes in public. He also walked the runway for Comme des Garçons.^[1]
• Georgia O'Keeffe and Jean-Michel Basquiat were alive at the same time for 25 years.^[1][2][5][6]
• Jean-Michel Basquiat was alive at the same time as Carl Jung — their lives overlapped for 1 year (1960–1961).^[1][2][7][8]

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.^[1]

Contemporaries

Hirohito

28 yr overlap

Bob Hope

28 yr overlap

Salvador Dalí

28 yr overlap

Dorothy Hodgkin

28 yr overlap

Mother Teresa

28 yr overlap

Akira Kurosawa

28 yr overlap

Jacques Cousteau

28 yr overlap

Rosa Parks

28 yr overlap

Ingmar Bergman

28 yr overlap

Frank Sinatra

28 yr overlap

Roald Dahl

28 yr overlap

Ella Fitzgerald

28 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Jean-Michel Basquiat

When was Jean-Michel Basquiat born?

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, and died on August 12, 1988.

How old was Jean-Michel Basquiat at death?

Jean-Michel Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, and died on August 12, 1988, at age 27.

What was Jean-Michel Basquiat known for?

Jean-Michel Basquiat was known for: Neo-expressionist street art icon. Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement.

Who was alive at the same time as Jean-Michel Basquiat?

Jean-Michel Basquiat's closest contemporary was Hirohito. Their lives overlapped for 28 years.