Jean-Michel Basquiat Trivia Questions

Basquiat had several solo exhibitions, including his first at Annina Nosei Gallery in 1982, before his death in 1988.

Basquiat died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at 27. He is often grouped with other musicians and artists who died at that age, though it's a coincidence.

Basquiat was born on December 22, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Haitian father and Puerto Rican mother.

Basquiat and Warhol worked together on many joint canvases from 1984 to 1985, blending their distinctive styles.

Basquiat had no formal art training. He was largely self-taught, learning from graffiti, museums, and his mother's encouragement. He never attended art school.

Basquiat was primarily a painter; while he created some assemblage works, his fame rests on his graffiti-inspired paintings on canvas.

Basquiat and Al Diaz created the SAMO graffiti tag in downtown Manhattan in the late 1970s, bringing Basquiat his first widespread notice.

Basquiat and Madonna were a couple in 1982–83, when both were rising in the NYC art and music scenes. She later said he was her first love.

In 2017, 'Untitled' (1982) sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, setting a record for an American artist at auction.

SAMO© was created by Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz, not Warhol. Warhol later became a collaborator and mentor, but wasn't involved in the graffiti tag.

Basquiat was a self-taught artist who never attended college. He dropped out of high school and did not earn any degree, including from the School of Visual Arts.

His mother, Matilde Andrades, was a bookkeeper and amateur artist, not a famous painter in the art world.

There's no evidence Basquiat ever skateboarded professionally. He was a graffiti artist and musician before painting, but not a skateboarder.

His father, Gérard Basquiat, was an accountant. Jean-Michel grew up in Brooklyn in a middle-class home, contrary to the 'starving artist' stereotype.

The painting sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby's in 2017, the highest price ever paid for an American artist at auction at that time.

Basquiat was deeply inspired by jazz and bebop. He listened to Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis while painting, mimicking their improvisation.