Meet Haitian-Puerto Rican artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, on what would have been his 58th birthday | Face2Face Africa

[dropcap]Perhaps[/dropcap] you first heard about Jean-Michel Basquiat earlier in 2017 when his painting, Untitled (1982), sold for a record $110.5 million, making his art the most expensive American painting of all time. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″]

A photograph of Jean-Michel Basquiat on the set of the film “Downtown 81,” which features the New York artist’s graffiti work. COPYRIGHT NEW YORK BEAT FILMS LLC. COURTESY MARIPOL. Image Credit

Or, you heard about him in 2013, when American rapper-mogul, Jay Z, bought his painting, Mecca, for $4.5 million. In fact, the rapper has consistently made reference to the artist, most notably in the song Picasso on his album Magna Carta Holy Grail, where he proclaimed, “I’m the new Jean-Michel”.

Basquiat is an important and rising fixture in popular American culture, albeit posthumously, and as such, a notable figure in the Pan-African dialogue.