Once in a while someone will come along and change what it means to be an artist. They redefine the way "artists- look, act, and how they make art. Jean-Michel Basquiat was one of these types of people. He changed the art world with his style of art and his style of life. He changed the way that the world thought about artists. Being black in a mainly white art community, Basquiat had to overcome more than any other artist of his time. Basquiat's art career was short-lived, but the impact it had on the art world isn't small by any means. .
Basquiat was born to Puerto Rican and Haitian parents in New York. Basquiat grew up in a middle class family in a fairly nice part of Brooklyn, even though he tried to hide this fact later in his life. The rest of Jean-Michel's family consisted of two younger sisters. Even at an early age, Jean-Michel drawings and paintings drew attention from his parents. He attended private school until fourth grade in which most of the other children were white. When he was seven, Jean-Michel was hit by a car and had to have his spleen removed. While in the hospital, he received a book titled Gray's Anatomy that his mother gave him . He was very interested in this book and it would serve as a major influence in his artwork. .
Life at home was not as great as his middle-class roots would imply. Jean-Michel's parents frequently fought. His mother was constantly in and out of mental institutions . After his parents separated, his father focused more time on his girlfriends than Jean-Michel and his two sisters. School was not much easier for Jean-Michel. He attended public schools after fourth grade. Most of the other students were white. His teachers described him as an "angry child- .
At age 12, Basquiat moved with his father to Puerto Rico for a short period of time. The two eventually returned to Brooklyn. At age 15, Jean-Michel ran away from home after being caught smoking pot by his father.
