Bringing Basquiat back to Brooklyn
Shop our new collaboration with fashion and lifestyle brand Rome Pays Off. It’s inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s print Back of the Neck, on view now in Solid Gold!
About the art
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s massive print Back of the Neck requires both a step back and a closer look. It is rare to see a work on paper of this size, and maybe even rarer to see a piece by Basquiat outside of a private collection; it has taken a long time for public institutions to give him his deserved flowers, despite his fame.
Inspired by a childhood encounter with the book Gray’s Anatomy, he bends, exposes, and twists a neck, spine, and arm in this work, each body part annotated as if this were a medical guide. His classic gold crown and copyright symbol are also present. As a whole, the image is uncomfortable and vulnerable—the artist’s specialty.
See the print in person in Solid Gold.
About the artist
For Basquiat, Brooklyn was always home, no matter where his career led him. He spent his youth between Park Slope, East Flatbush, and Boerum Hill, and he often visited the Brooklyn Museum with his mom, who was also Brooklyn born and bred. We honor the hometown hero who cultivated an early interest in art by walking through the Brooklyn Museum’s halls.
Explore why this print is one of our Brooklyn Icons!
From the top: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Back of the Neck, 1983. © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
