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Jean-Michel Basquiat: 80s Art Superstar
Jean-Michel Basquiat: 80s Art Superstar
He was the star of the 1980s New York art scene, but was Jean-Micheal Basquiat a truly great artist or the product of a booming art market? And why did one of his works sell for more than $110 million? Join Alastair and James as they explore the meteoric rise and tragic fall of one of the most distinctive artists of the 1980s.
Artworks in this episode include:
Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled, 1982 Acrylic, spray paint and oil stick on canvas, 183,2 × 173 × 4,8 cm © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. 2025
Jean-Michel Basquiat Untitled, 1982 Oilstick on paper, 75.9 x 56.5 cm. Private Collection. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Photo: Courtesy of Colour Themes.
Jean-Michel Basquiat Mosquito Coil, 1982 Oilstick, graphite and charcoal on paper, 76.2 x 109.2 cm, Private Collection. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York. Photo: Courtesy of Colour Themes.
The exhibition ""Basquiat-Headstrong"" is on at Louisiana, Denmark between 30 January - 17 May 2026."
Dr James Fox is a Cambridge art historian, bestselling author and multi award-winning broadcaster. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. His critically-acclaimed books on art and culture have been translated into fourteen languages. His most recent title and best-seller Craftland: a journey through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades (2025) has been named Waterstones Book of the Year, BBC’s book of the week and shortlisted for the Nero Book Prize. James is perhaps best known for his many arts documentaries for the BBC, including A History of Art in Three Colours, The Art of Japanese Life The Age of the Image and Nature and Us: a history through Art
Alastair Sooke is an author and broadcaster, and chief art critic at The Telegraph, for which he has been covering art since 2003. He has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC (Modern Masters, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, An Art Lovers’ Guide) and written several books, including studies of Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat, and a history of Pop art. He is a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and was educated at the University of Oxford and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
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