Basquiat's Former Dealer On The Making Of An Art World Icon

Bruno Bischofberger sees Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988) as more than a defining artist of the 1980s. In an excerpt from Basquiat: The World of Jean-Michel, the Swiss dealer argues that Basquiat altered how art is understood, but also how history, society, and identity are read. The book, published by Assouline, is due out May 11.

Bischofberger writes that Basquiat's influence has only expanded in the decades since his death, helped along by globalization, digitalization, and a growing cultural focus on distinct identities and exceptional individuals. In his view, Basquiat's work did not simply enter art history; it changed the terms of it. By combining images, symbols, and words, he did not merely tell stories, Bischofberger suggests, but retell history itself.

The excerpt also places Basquiat in conversation with Andy Warhol (1928–1987), whose cool, detached approach shaped generations of artists. Warhol is described as an artist of style, media, celebrity, and commercial culture. Basquiat, by contrast, is presented as more openly critical, with work that confronted politics and racism with unusual force.

Bischofberger became Basquiat's exclusive worldwide dealer in May 1982 and remained in that role until the artist's death in 1988. He recalls the artist's frequent visits to Switzerland as formative, not only for Basquiat but for Bischofberger's own family. He also describes Basquiat as intensely curious, with interests that ranged from art, photography, and design to folk art, Swiss history, music, food, and wine.

One of the excerpt's most revealing details is Basquiat's answer to the artists who impressed him most:“Works by very young children.” The line captures the directness Bischofberger associates with Basquiat's practice - a refusal of polish in favor of immediacy, instinct, and a kind of visual truth that still feels unsettled and alive.

That is part of why Basquiat remains so central to contemporary art. His work continues to sit at the intersection of market value, cultural memory, and political meaning, a rare position that few artists occupy with equal force.

MENAFN12052026005694012507ID1111104795