Jean-Michel Basquait was born on December 22,1960 in Brooklyn, New York. His father's name is Gerald Basquiat and his mother's name is Matilide Andradas.His mother was born in Brooklyn but her parents were from Puerto-Rico. His dad is an immigrant from Port-Au Prince, Hati. Basquait displayed a talent for art at an early age. He would often paint and draw on papers his father brought home from his accounting job. At the age of 6, Jean-Michel was enrolled as a junior member at the Brooklyn Musuem of Art. At the age of 8, Basquiat was struck by a car. He had to undergo surgery and have his spleen removed. During his recovery, he read a book called Gray's Anatomy which influenced his graffti art style. After his parents divorced, Basquait lived alone with his father. His mother was deemed unfit to care for him due to her mental health problems. Basquait eventually ran away from home and was adopted by his friends family. He dropped out of school at the age of 17.
Basquiat never attended art school and was deemed a self taught artist. His art was heavily inspired by The New York City graffti scene of the 1970's. In 1976, he collabarated with one of his friends and began spray painting buildings in Lower Manhattan. During this period Basquiat lived on the streets and would support himself by panhandling, selling drugs, or selling art. He would often frequent clubs particularly Mudd Club and Club 57. These clubs would become popular hangout spots for the new generation of visual artists and musicians, including Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, etc. By 1982, Basquiat was considered a high profile artist. He opened six solo art shows and he was featured in the contempoary art extravaganza known as Documenta. During this time, Basquiat created over 200 works of art and developed a signature motif. By the early 1980's, Basquiat befriend Andy Warhol. These 2 would begin to collabarate on a series of paintings. Due to his new found fame, Basquait was featured in New York Times Magazine as one of the hottest young artist in the 1980's. Basquiat would later pass away in 1988 due to a heroin overdose in his own apartment.