American Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat - Essay Example The focus of this essay "American Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat" is on Jean-Michel Basquiat's biography and his specific art works. He had a unique mastery of art in quite a wide range of fields including music, painting, poem writing and graffiti. Just before his death in August 1988, he had become a distinguished primitivist and neo-expressionist painter. When he was seven years old, Basquiat was involved in an accident, where he was almost ran on by a car. As a result, he suffered some systemic injuries that made him to a surgical procedure where his spleen was extracted. Around this time, Basquiat’s parents separated and he was raised by his father. Due to their family’s financial strain, he dropped out of school at Grade 10 and began selling post cards and old shirts to take care of family needs. This paper describes such incredible artwork of Basquiat as The Untitled Head (1984). Contrary to many of his later works, which had been completed relatively quickly, The U ntitled (Head) was started and put aside for a few months, and was completed later in the year 1984. It is not clear why this happened but a number of analysts have alluded to the fact that Basquiat was hesitant to complete the painting because he became quite uncomfortable with the popularity he was gaining from his artistic works and the resultant unexpected image. Although the painting was exhibited in the artist’s debut presentation in New York as Untitled, when it became part of the collection of its current owners.