Jean-Michel Basquiat Handbook

This book is very small, yet very well produced, and filled with many of Jean's greatest paintings.While the text walks the sunny side of the street only, there are numerous details that feel dropped in to correct the record. Old story: Jean got beat-up by his dad, and so, left home. New detail: father and son agreed to part ways, and father gave son money.The paintings speak for themselves. Trying to analyze them is like trying to analyze a jazz solo. You can do it and lose that magic of improvisation that birthed that solo out of thin air. Not all Jean's work are masterpieces, but his ratio of hits to misses is way off the charts.And he never got a major retrospective in America while alive, and had trouble finding a dealer. The great fame everyone knows today arrived largely after his death.