Horn Players Breakfast Tray by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat (American, 1960 – 1988) rose to prominence in the 1980s with his neo-expressionist paintings but his artistic practice began with the street art he made in New York City’s Lower East Side in the mid-1970s. There he developed his non-linear style that appropriates symbols and references from a wide range of sources including music, religion, and history combined with cultural and political commentary to explore the meaning of being African American in contemporary society. Basquiat often listened to jazz while he worked and his improvisational compositions layered with text and imagery are perhaps inspired by jazz’s complex compositions. His iconic Horn Players (1983) is an homage to two jazz legends – Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie.