Jean-Michel Basquiat at Moco Museum

Tips for viewing Basquiat at Moco Museum Amsterdam

⌛ Start wide, then zoom in Take in the full canvas first. Notice where the eye lands naturally before reading any text.

✍️ Read the crossed out words Crossed text is not erased. Basquiat often strikes through to highlight meaning, not hide it.

👑 Track the crown Follow the three pointed crown across works. It often signals reverence, resistance, or reclaimed status.

🧠 Look for anatomy references Skulls, ribs, and exposed forms echo medical diagrams he studied as a child, turning bodies into cultural battlegrounds.

🎷 Feel the rhythm The brushwork moves like jazz, a nod to improvisation and syncopation that shaped his pacing and repetition.

🌅 Visit during quieter hours Morning or late afternoon slots allow time to read dense text without visual distractions.

Did you know?

• Basquiat was born in Brooklyn in 1960 and spoke English, French, and Spanish fluently.
  
• As a teenager, he tagged Manhattan with the name SAMO, short for “same old,” critiquing consumer culture.
  
• He often referenced boxers, jazz musicians, and historical figures, elevating them with his signature crown.
  
• Many anatomical drawings stem from a childhood accident that led him to study a medical textbook extensively.
  
• His paintings mix oil stick, acrylic, spray paint, and pencil on raw canvas and found materials.
  
• Basquiat became one of the youngest artists to achieve global recognition during the 1980s art boom.
  
• Despite rapid fame, his works retained graffiti urgency and visible corrections.
  
• Text in his paintings often functions like poetry, looping, repeating, and contradicting itself.
  
• Collectors today regard his canvases as cornerstones of late twentieth century art.
  
• His influence can be traced across street art, fashion, music, and contemporary painting.

Basquiat’s artistic style

Basquiat fused graffiti energy with painterly intensity. He layered oil stick, acrylic, and spray paint over raw canvas, allowing drips, corrections, and exposed underdrawings to remain visible. His compositions balance chaos and control. Crowns elevate overlooked figures. Skulls and bones reference anatomy and mortality. Words crowd the surface, sometimes crossed out, sometimes repeated, pushing viewers to read and reread. Beneath the bold color lies pointed commentary on race, capitalism, colonial history, and power. The result feels immediate, confrontational, and unmistakably his.