Jean-Michel Basquiat, Memorial Gathering Invitation, November 5 1988. Size: 4.5 x 6 Inches
For serious collectors of art ephemera one important consideration is that the item date from the time the artist was alive and working. There is a certain logic to this. The best art ephemera chronicles an artist’s career, and for most artists very little of significance happens after their death.
Jean-Michel Basquiat is the exception here, an artist whose presence, popularity and importance continued to surge after he died. Basquiat’s short eight-year career, belies his prodigious production, and there has been much to discover and re-evaluate after his death. His soaring prices – a key component of a much broader art-world story – has also kept him front and center. Finally, there is the dramatic arc of Basquiat’s brilliant but tragic life. The story of a groundbreaking “outsider” climbing to the heights and then dying young has proved irresistible for writers, filmmakers and graphic novelists.
Gallery 98’s earlier online exhibition A Survey of Jean-Michel Basquiat Ephemera focused on the art ephemera produced when he was still alive. This email/newsletter adds to the story by featuring interesting art ephemera produced since his death. You can see more on our new Posthumous Basquiat page.
Henry Flynt, The SAMO Graffiti, Emily Harvey Gallery, card, 1991
Henry Flynt, The SAMO Graffiti, Emily Harvey Gallery, card, March – April 1991.
Size: 4 x 6 Inches
Basquiat’s early years as the street artist SAMO (a collaboration with Al Diaz) was the focus of this exhibition featuring photographs of SAMO graffiti by Henry Flynt, a Fluxus artist who is known for coining the term “concept art.”
Whitney Museum, Jean-Michel Basquiat, with funding by Madonna and MTV, poster, 1992
The Whitney Museum, Jean-Michel Basquiat, with funding by Madonna and MTV, poster, 1992. Size: 26 x 38 Inches
The 1992 Basquiat retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art greatly enhanced his art world prestige. The fact that the singer Madonna and the cable television channel MTV helped finance the show added to his celebrity status.
Julian Schnabel, Basquiat, New York Film Premiere at The Paris Theater, folded card, July 31 1996
Front and Back Inside
Julian Schnabel, Basquiat, New York Film Premiere at The Paris Theater, folded card, July 31 1996. Size: 4.5 x 6 Inches – Available
Artist Julian Schnabel’s first movie Basquiat brought the artist’s story to a wider audience. This rare card for the movie’s premiere includes Schnabel’s imitation of Basquiat’s distinctive writing style.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, General Electric II, Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (Tokyo), card, 1998
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, General Electric II, Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (Tokyo), card, 1998. Size: 4.25 x 6 Inches – Available
The marketing of Basquiat’s work was international. This card for a Basquiat exhibition in Tokyo features one of the collaborative paintings that he did with Andy Warhol.
Downtown ’81 The Show, Deitch Projects, card, 2001
Downtown ’81 The Show, Deitch Projects, card, 2001. Size: 8.5 x 5.5 inches – Available
Basquiat was the star of Downtown 81, a film directed by Edo Bertoglio with a script by Glenn O’Brien. Shot in 1980-1981, the film was not completed until 2000. This exhibition with photographs by Edo and Maripol celebrated its long-delayed release.
Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait, photographs by Nick Taylor, Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, brochure, 2004
Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait, photographs by Nick Taylor, Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University, Brochure, Text by Annina Nosei and Michael Beam, 2004. Size: 7 x 11 Inches – Available
A single 35mm roll of photographs of Basquiat taken in 1979 by Nicholas Taylor is the subject of this exhibition brochure. Taylor and Basquiat were both in the short-lived band Gray.
Pace Wildenstein, Dubuffet Basquiat: Personal Histories, 55-page catalogue, 2006
Pace Wildenstein, Dubuffet Basquiat: Personal Histories, essay by Lawrence Winder,
55-page catalogue, 2006. Size: 12 x 9.25 Inches – Available
In order to provide a context for Basquiat, some galleries opted to juxtapose his art with works by artists he admired. In addition to this catalogue, Gallery 98’s Posthumous Basquiat page also includes catalogues for exhibitions featuring Basquiat alongside Cy Twombly, Raymond Saunders and Andy Warhol.
Javaka Steptoe, Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, 39-page book, 2016
Javaka Steptoe, Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, 39-page book, 2016. Size: 9.5 x 11 Inches – Available
This illustrated children’s book by artist Javaka Steptoe is noteworthy for its emphasis on Basquiat’s childhood, and the cultural context in which he was raised.
Sotheby’s, promotional publications for the 2017 auction of Basquiat’s Untitled (1982), sold for $110,487,500
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, two promotional newsprint publications (one pictured above), Sotheby’s, 2017. Size: 17 x 23 inches (32-page publication) – Available
In 2017 Basquiat’s reputation rose to new heights when a 1982 painting sold at auction for over $110 million dollars. To promote the auction, Sotheby’s produced two oversized newsprint publications filled with photographs of Basquiat and related art ephemera.
