Jean-Michel Basquiat was born into a wealthy family of mixed origins in New York in 1960. Although Basquiat had no formal artist training he first started to gain recognition as an artist as early as June 1980, when he participated in The Times Square Show. Over the next few years, sometimes working with artists such as Andy Warhol, he continued to exhibit his works around New York as well as internationally at galleries such as those of Gagosian and Baghoomian. He died from a drug overdose in 1988.

Basquiat's work uses signs and symbols from all cultures. Intense bright colours and strange scribblings - as often associated with different forms of street art or graffiti - are the hallmarks of his challenging work.

Above: The Philistines, Jean-Michel Basquiat