The exhibition covers the painter's whole career, from 1980 to 1988, focusing on 120 defining works. With the Heads from 1981-1982, gathered for the first time here, and the presentation of several collaborations between Basquiat and Warhol, the exhibition includes works previously unseen in Europe, essential works such as Obnoxious Liberals (1982), In Italian (1983), and Riding with Death (1988), as well as paintings which have rarely been seen since their first presentations during the artist's lifetime, such as Offensive Orange (1982), Untitled (Boxer) (1982), and Untitled (Yellow Tar and Feathers) (1982). At a young age, Jean-Michel Basquiat left school and made his first studio in the streets of New York. Very quickly, his painting achieved great success, which the artist both sought out and felt subjected to. His work refers back to the eruption of modernity, that of the expressionists, but his filiations are numerous. The acuteness of his gaze, his visits to museums, and the reading of a number of books gave him a real sense of culture. Yet his gaze was directed: the absence of black artists being painfully evident, the artist imposed the need to depict African American culture and revolts in equal measure in his work. Basquiat's death in 1988 interrupted a very prolific body of work, carried out in under a decade, with over one thousand paintings and even more drawings.--Fondation Louis Vuitton website. "Published in conjunction with the exhibition at Fondation Louis Vuitton, this catalogue captures the dazzling career of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988). Featuring reproductions of all 120 works shown, it provides a unique opportunity to re-examine the oeuvre of this seminal artist. Dieter Buchart, exhibition curator and catalogue editor, explores the existential character of Basquiat's line, among other key topics of investigation. Following a preface by Suzanne Pagé, texts by Okwui Enwezor, Olivier Michelon, Francisco Pellizzi, Jordana Moore Saggese, Paul Schimmel, and Franklin Sirmans expand on the approaches to the artist's work, contextualizing its creation, its importance within the history of twentieth-century art, and its relevance today. They address essential subjects running throughout Basquiat's oeuvre, while placing it within the critical and historical framework fundamental to its understanding."