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Jean-Michel Basquiat
American • 1960 - 1988
One of the most famous American artists of all time, Jean-Michel Basquiat first gained notoriety as a subversive graffiti-artist and street poet in the late 1970s. Operating under the pseudonym SAMO, he emblazoned the abandoned walls of the city with his unique blend of enigmatic symbols, icons and aphorisms. A voracious autodidact, by 1980, at 22-years of age, Basquiat began to direct his extraordinary talent towards painting and drawing. His powerful works brilliantly captured the zeitgeist of the 1980s New York underground scene and catapulted Basquiat on a dizzying meteoric ascent to international stardom that would only be put to a halt by his untimely death in 1988.
Basquiat's iconoclastic oeuvre revolves around the human figure. Exploiting the creative potential of free association and past experience, he created deeply personal, often autobiographical, images by drawing liberally from such disparate fields as urban street culture, music, poetry, Christian iconography, African-American and Aztec cultural histories and a broad range of art historical sources.
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SOLUS BY HEBRU BRANTLEY
In Conversation: Hebru Brantley on Comics, Basquiat and Breaking the Rules
The Chicago-born artist talks about his influences, reappropriation and the democratization of art.
Hebru Brantley
Jewels & More: Online Auction
Buccellati: Modern Design Rooted in Renaissance Tradition
One of the oldest jewelers in Milan, Buccellati continues to innovate new techniques in producing bespoke textures and finishes.
Buccellati
Italian
STYLED. Timeless Watches & How to Wear Them
Styled: Dressing Timeless Watches with Mr. Porter and The Rake
Phillips teamed up with the style experts at Mr Porter and The Rake to see how they'd wear some of the best pieces from our upcoming New York watches auction on 5 December.
Rolex
Swiss • b. 1905
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
Liu Ye's Shades of Red
Our Hong Kong specialists explore the artist's unique usage of a color that continues to be emblematic of Chinese art, alongside influences like Oscar Wilde and Charlie Chaplin.
Liu Ye
Evening & Day Editions
Rewriting History: Cy Twombly Idolized the Legends of Antiquity
Specialist Kip Eischen explores the influences behind Twombly's seven-lithograph work, 'Five Greek Poets and a Philosopher', 1978, produced during a time in which 'The Illiad' drove his approach to art.
Cy Twombly
American • 1928 - 2011