
#storybehindtheart
Warhol met Basquiat through their common art dealer Bruno Bischofberger and they ended up collaborating on 200 paintings and had a common show at Tony Shafrazi Gallery, opening on September 14, 1985.
Meeting and working with Warhol was a dream for Basquiat and Warhol genuinely admired Basquiat’s work and they would sometimes swap techniques which was what Warhol preferred when “you can't tell who did which parts."
In an interview Basquiat detailed their process and how he would start the painting before Warhol would add to it and so on. He event mentioned that Warhol was sometimes unwilling to add more and Basquiat would push him to do so.
Warhol said of it that it was probably among the best things he had done and was always positive about the collaboration even when the reviews were negative. Indeed, thanks to Basquiat, Warhol went back to painting and found a new source of inspiration.
Keith Haring wrote about their collaboration that is was "It was a physical conversation happening in paint instead of words.”
Sources:
The Andy Warhol Diaries,
Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1960-1988, Leonhard Emmerling
Tale of Two Legends: Warhol and Basquiat, Sotheby's, 2019
Jean Michel and Andy collaboration, 2021, Acrylic on canvas,
48"x 38" (120 x 90 cm)