Analysis Of Basquiat

1647 Words4 Pages

Emma Scheidt December 12, 2017 Art 188 Dr. Lori Parks There is Light in Darkness Jean Michel Basquiat; 1960 - 1988. A short life indeed, but in his limited time on this earth, Basquiat made sure he left an everlasting footprint in its soil. In Basquiat's short lifetime, he used his unique artistic abilities to not only contribute to the current world of art, but to help shape its future. By opposing the norm of his time, Basquiat created many pieces that portrayed harsh realities, but in a style new to the world around him. Though his work was controversial, Basquiat still went on to create many raw pieces that challenged the minds of its viewers. One of these raw pieces is a colorful painting of a skull done by Basquiat in 1981. This untitled …show more content…

The fringe like lines connect the intricate spirals and lines inside of the skull with the bright colors outside of the skull. In the midst of the disconnect between the skull and the viewer, these small lines seem to be the only form of connection between the skull and the rest of the piece. Basquiat, in the midst of his personal struggles was still connected to the world through his art. In times of trouble, his art kept him grounded and gave him a muse. Even in Basquiat's last moments, he used art to connect to the world one last time through a tragically beautiful goodbye. On August 12, 1988 Basquiat passed away in the bathtub of his home after a heroin overdose. But he didn’t go without leaving one last message for his followers. “ There was a jagged hole punched in the bathroom window. Beneath it was scrawled the legend "Broken Heart," with Basquiat's favorite punctuation, a copyright …show more content…

Through times of personal struggle and tribulations, he stayed connected to the world through these works of art he created. His untitled piece he created in 1981, was another example of how he connected to the world. By creating it as an untraditional portrait of himself, Basquiat was able to better portray himself to the world. From the colors, to the lines, to the symbols Basquiat used in this piece, he drew direct connection between his life and this raw image of a skull. Through the darkness of this self portrait, a brilliant mind shines

Show More
Related

  • Van Gogh Influences

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    Vincent Van Gogh is one of the world’s greatest and most well-known artists, but when he was alive he considered himself to be a complete failure. It was not until after he died that Van Gogh’s paintings received the recognition they deserved. Today he is thought to be the second best Dutch artist, after Rembrandt. Born in 1853, he was one of the biggest artistic influences of the 19th century. Vincent Van Gogh created a new era of art, he learned to use art to escape his mental illness, and he still continues to inspire artists over 100 years later.

    Read More

  • Georges Seurat's Pointillism of View

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    Georges-Pierre Seurat was a French Post-Impressionist painter, as well as a fine draftsman. He was born and raised in a wealthy family in Paris on December 2, 1859. He lived a short life of thirty-one year of age, and in his time, Seurat not only invented his style of pointillism, but he also became the first Neo-Impressionist. In pointillism, Seurat used miniscule dots of various colors on a base color to produce the local color. This creates an optical mixture from afar for the viewer and makes the image livelier. As the first Neo-Impressionist, he systematically painted his works instead of the rough brushworks of the earlier Impressionists (Chu 410-411, Gage 452, Georges). Since Seurat first started to dig deep into the arts when he was merely sixteen, he really changed the modern art world within 15 years; barely half of his life! Seurat truly worked hard to get the reputation he has today and his works are unquestionably phenomenal through his techniques he used.

    Read More

  • Andy Warhol's Impact on Art

    3155 Words  | 7 Pages

    Each of the artists mentioned here met Andy Warhol at different phases of his career. While the majority of them were seen at the infamous Factory, some came both before and after. Regardless of where they met and knew Warhol, they each had their own individual lessons and impacts. Jean-Michel Basquait was perhaps the last artist to come around and really know Andy Warhol. Julia Warhol was certainly the first. In between were very many amazing artists, almost too many artists to talk about. The most important, of course, have been mentioned in this paper. Andy Warhol is a man still impacting art long after his death. His visionary style changed forever the face of both commercial art and gallery art. Hopefully this paper communicated a bit of that genius.

    Read More

  • Essay About Basquiat

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    This piece is acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on wood panel that is 186.1 centimeters in height and 125.1 centimeters in width. This piece features a human-like figure in the center that is mostly half red and half black. This figure has a gray head with one yellow eye and one light gray eye and above its head is a black halo. The background consists of patches of various colors such as light blue, black, dark red, light green, beige, turquoise, pink, and yellow. On the bottle left corner there is a figure drawn that looks like a fish and has a strip of mustard yellow painted through it. Also towards the bottom right of the artwork, there is some drawn on letters that almost look like words but are messily painted over with a desert sand color. This piece is my favorite because I find it aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot going on in this piece that makes looking at it genuinely interesting. The colors that Basquiat choses for the background go very well together and overall compliment the figure in the center. I like how incredibly expressive this piece is and it makes me want to buy a canvas and start painting that I desire. I also like how the human-like figure is drawn. One could see what looks like an outlined ribcage on the figure, which makes me believe that the head is actually a skull. Upon further research I learned that Basquiat was

    Read More

  • A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    Georges Seurat was a French born artist born on December 2nd 1859 in Paris, Frrance. He study at École des Beaux-Art, which was one of the most prestige art schools in the world, which is also known for training many of the renounced artist we know. George Seurat left the École des Beaux-Art and began to work on his own; he began to visit impressionist exhibitions, where he gained inspiration from the impressionist painters, such as Claude Monet. Seurat also was interested in the science of art; he explored perception, color theory and the psychological effect of line and form. Seurat experimented with all the ideas he had gained, he felt the need to go beyond the impressionist style, he started to focus on the permanence of paintin...

    Read More

  • Monet

    1812 Words  | 4 Pages

    Monet's works during his last years at Giverney are mysteriously beautiful and can be interpreted many ways, holding a different meaning for each individual. I see Monet's work as objects of wonder and enchantment, which boggle the mind, stimulate thought and provide visual pleasure for the viewer. There is no denying that Monet is probably one of the best-loved artist in the world. People who have never even seen any of his actual paintings recognize his work. Monet's work commands immense prices and a seemingly endless stream of studies and monographs every year and will continue to do so the centuries to come.

    Read More

  • Picasso: Artistic Genius and Personal Struggles

    1368 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pablo Picasso had many hardships. All his life, he was a self-centered man who made fun of other people. The countless wives and mistresses he left him because they were unhappy. His dedication to art was too much for the people who had loved him. During his lifetime many people had passed away. Two of his good friends, mother, wife, and sister had all died. But many of those tragic events allowed him to create some of the most astounding artworks in history. Through the misfortunes in Picasso’s life, he was able to rise above and become one of the most significant artists of the 20th

    Read More

  • Edvard Munch: Emotion as Art

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the 7th grade, I have been a huge fan of the famous French-inspired realist and expressionist, Edvard Munch. His work is so full of passion and pain as well as shock and sadness. By gazing into the gloriously deep world of emotion he created, art lovers both young and old are amazed and drawn in.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Kahlo And Van Gogh

    1189 Words  | 3 Pages

    Art is a very important part of humanity’s history, and it can be found anywhere from the walls of caves to the halls of museums. The artists that created these works of art were influenced by a multitude of factors including personal issues, politics, and other art movements. Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh, two wildly popular artists, have left behind artwork, that to this day, influences and fascinates people around the world. Their painting styles and personal lives are vastly different, but both artists managed to capture the emotions that they were feeling and used them to create artwork.

    Read More

  • Wassily Kandinsky Analysis

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Picasso painted from a model who sat in front of him, facing him”. Thus, you are “in the position of the artist”. The unique element of the painting is that use of cubism, which allows for the painting to carry a form of mystery behind it, as it does not simply give you the image, rather, it provides the elements of a complete composition that then the viewer must piece together. What the image truly shows us, however, is that of a naked female playing a mandolin with us as the viewer able to see the profile of her face looking down towards the strings of the mandolin, while her body faces towards the viewer, giving a good usage of twisted perspective. “The colors in this painting are shades of light brown, tan, yellow, and olive green. They all seem close to each in color, and they are all muted or dull” with “no bright color standing out. These factors make the entire surface of the painting appear unified in color.” Thus turning the piece into more of a puzzle that the viewer mush piece together rather than merely a painting one could simply

    Read More

  • Baluster And Skull' By Georges Braque

    143 Words  | 1 Pages

    The above painting is titled “Baluster and Skull,” and is a Cubism piece painted by Georges Braque. Like most of Braque’s work, it is painted with oil on canvas. The painting was created in 1938 just before the start of the Second World War. The overall painting appears to be a table, with obviously a “Baluster and Skull,” a glass, and a decorative wall. The baluster represents support, but what he is supporting is unclear to me. The skull could represent death, in which he could be influenced by the current events happening in Europe during 1938. The fact that the skull in one solid piece intrigues me the most. Everything else in the piece of artwork is put together by multiple shapes and piece, with the exception of the skull, in which it

    Read More

  • Analysis of Thomas Birch’s painting An American Ship in Distress

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...hese repeated vertical lines contrast firmly with a horizontal line that divides the canvas almost exactly in half. The background, upper portion of the canvas, seems unchanging and flat, whereas the foreground and middle ground of the painting have a lot of depth to them.

    Read More

  • Jean Michel Basquiat Research Paper

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    Exploring Modern Day Artists: Jean- Michel Basquiat. Jean- Michel Basquiat also known as SAMO, is an amazing and inspirational modern day artist known for his neo-expression graffiti and paintings which consist of distinctive symbols, diagrams and a series of imagery which symbolized his heritage, struggles through life, and a new youthful movement which inspired experimental artists to express themselves. Being the descendant of Haitian and Puerto Rican ancestry, Basquiat’s diverse culture is a main factor behind his creative tactics and his artwork. Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 22, 1960.

    Read More

  • The Controversy of Marcel Duchamp

    856 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most unique figures in the continuum of the art world, Marcel Duchamp changed the way we look at and produce art today. Marcel Duchamp was by far, one of the most controversial figures in art. Two of the most well known and talked about pieces by him are The Fountain and The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even . Duchamp created many other pieces that caught the attention of critics, other artists, and the population in a negative way; however, these two pieces alone, brought about the greatest amount of controversy.

    Read More

  • Post Impressionism: Post-Impressionism

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...rit of the dead, watches over her. Gauguin, in this painting, created a supernatural and fearful aura in this painting. Gauguin experimented with color to arouse deep emotion. Besides the upsetting color, the general composition of the painting is disturbing. The old woman in the background that is watching the girl is eerie.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Basquiat

Open Document