What happened to Basquiat?

What happened to Basquiat was that his career was cut short by his death from an accidental drug overdose on August 12, 1988. Emerging from the New York City street art scene, Jean-Michel Basquiat became one of the most significant artists of the 20th century as he mixed hand-scrawled text, vibrant color, gestural brushwork and themes of social commentary in a prolific output of Neo-Expressionist paintings. Although his pieces always retained the improvisational energy of graffiti, Basquiat used deceptively uncomplicated motifs such as crowns and professional boxers to honor the majesty and power of Black men and place himself in that lineage. Today, Basquiat's art is among the most expensive in the world, with his paintings regularly fetching tens of millions of dollars at auction. On 1stDibs, shop a collection of Jean-Michel Basquiat art.