Jean-Michel Basquiat "Return of The Central Figure" PORCELAIN MUG

A poet, musician, and graffiti prodigy in late-1970s New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat had honed his signature painting style of obsessive scribbling, elusive symbols and diagrams, and mask-and-skull imagery by the time he was 20. “I don’t think about art while I work,” he once said. “I think about life.” Basquiat drew his subjects from his own Caribbean heritage—his father was Haitian and his mother of Puerto Rican descent—and a convergence of African-American, African, and Aztec cultural histories with Classical themes and contemporary heroes like athletes and musicians. Often associated with Neo-expressionism, Basquiat received massive acclaim in only a few short years, showing alongside artists like Julian Schnabel, David Salle, and Francesco Clemente. In 1983, he met Andy Warhol, who would come to be a mentor and idol. The two collaborated on a series of paintings before Warhol’s death in 1987, followed by Basquiat’s own untimely passing a year later.

Ligne Blanche Paris brings these works off the wall and into daily life. Founded in 2007, the French house works with artists' estates and foundations to translate iconic images onto Limoges porcelain, perfumed candles and home objects — so a Warhol flower, a Haring figure or a Basquiat crown becomes something you live with, not just look at.