Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon

Shortly after his untimely death in 1988, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s meteoric art-world ascent was in retreat. Nearly four decades later, the artist’s paintings are amongst the world’s most recognizable and valuable. Based on over 100 interviews, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon finally fills in long-missing chapters from the life and work of an artist who helped reframe contemporary art.

When Jean-Michel Basquiat died in 1988 at the age of twenty-seven, major critics called his work a flash in the pan and the meteoric rise in the prices of his paintings started to fall back. Almost thirty years later Basquiat joined Picasso, Modigliani and Munch when one of his paintings sold for over $100 million. Nearly four decades after his untimely death, he remains one of the most recognizable artists in the world ― his work not only headlines major museum exhibitions and private collections but also appears on T-shirts, sneakers, tattoos and accessories from Rio to Singapore. What happened?

For the first substantive biography in over twenty-five years, art world insider Doug Woodham conducted more than 100 interviews ― with family members, friends, lovers, gallery owners, collectors, musicians, academics and other artists ― to weave a thoughtful and revealing account of Basquiat’s life, work and legacy. Woodham’s account takes readers from the artist’s rich and complex family background through to his commercial and critical resurrection ― an ascent that has played a role in reshaping the art-world. In the process, he has also crafted a unique account of how the twenty-first century art world selects its icons and cements their place in history.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon examines key aspects of the artist’s life such as his childhood trauma, sexuality, cultural identities and struggles with addiction ― topics long downplayed in the museum and art world, arguably due to the controlling role played by his estate. Simultaneously Woodham uncovers the previously untold story of how a few against-the-grain speculators and gallerists ― plus his deftly skilled and strategic father, the band U2 and a bestselling children’s book ― all contributed to bringing what Basquiat accomplished back to the centre of the conversation and in the process helped to birth a new era in contemporary art.

Review

Author Doug Woodham . . . might be the perfect person to explain the artist's unmatched longevity at the intersection of appreciation and appropriation. Informed by interviews with fellow artists, gallerists and many others, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon is a fascinating chronicle of marketplace immortality.-- "Salon, 10 Fall Biographies You Won't Want to Miss" (9/8/2025 12:00:00 AM)

An intriguing window into how the art world anoints its stars.-- "Publishers Weekly" (8/11/2025 12:00:00 AM)

How an artist became a superstar... A perceptive examination of the life, art, and legacy of Jean-Michel Basquiat... Woodham portrays Basquiat as a man with a 'ravenous appetite for new experiences'; intensely competitive, he 'wanted to be known as one of the great artists of his generation'... [The author] offers an insider's look at the business of art, revealing the aesthetics and motivations of Basquiat's early and posthumous collectors; the gallery owners who represented him; and the economic, cultural, and social forces that shape taste and monetary value.-- "Kirkus Reviews" (8/15/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Few artists have transcended the boundaries of high art and mainstream culture as completely as Jean-Michel Basquiat. In The Making of an Icon, Doug Woodham expertly dissects the mechanisms that propelled Basquiat's work into the cultural and commercial stratosphere.--Anita Elberse, Harvard Business School professor of marketing, and leading expert on the business of sports, media, and entertainment

Jean-Michel Basquiat filled his canvases with iconic images drawn from Black history and culture, inscribed with stream-of-consciousness intensity. Doug Woodham's biography vividly brings to life Basquiat's childhood, meteoric rise, and tragically brief career; then pulls back the curtain on the long, slow process by which curators and collectors recognized his stature as a towering figure in contemporary art.--Pepe Karmel, Professor, Department of Art History and Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Doug Woodham delivers a meticulously researched portrait of Basquiat, whose influence has long outlived his brief life. This clear-eyed account charts the artist's ascent, the forces that shaped his legacy, and the champions who helped secure his place in the cultural canon.--Bonnie Brennan, CEO, Christie's

Basquiat's work speaks with urgency and raw emotion--but what happens to an artist after they're gone? Doug Woodham traces the extraordinary evolution of Basquiat's legacy, exploring the art world's gatekeepers, the commercialization of his image, and the deeper truths often left out of his story.--Nia DaCosta, writer/director of the films "Little Woods," "Candyman," "The Marvels," and "Hedda"

About the Author

Doug Woodham is the Managing Partner of Art Fiduciary Advisors, a New York-based firm focused on providing advice on the financial aspects of owning and selling fine art. He most recently served as President of the Americas for Christie’s and is the author of the bestselling book Art Collecting Today: Market Insights for Everyone Passionate about Art.

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