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1982, New York, the streets of the Big Apple are filled with transgression, and an excess social-life. So, it is within this panorama that the protagonists of the lively artistic climate of the new New York school begin to make their way and make a name for themselves.
Walking into one of the famous night clubs and finding Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Madonna Ciccone, aka Madonna, was a casual occurrence. These young people, barely in their twenties, were trying to emerge in the art world, as far as Basquiat, Haring and Scharf were concerned, while the future Pop Star Madonna was taking her first steps in the music scene.
The friendship between the four artists arose both because of their close proximity to the king of Pop Art Andy Warhol, but also because of the love affair that arose in those early 1980s between Basquiat and Madonna.
"I remember a summer dinner with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel in the Chinese restaurant Mr. Chow. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have known him [Basquiat] and everyone else." -Madonna
Basquiat and Madonna: Their Love Story
Although the romance was over in just a few months, the impact it had on their lives and careers was immense. Indeed, both drew inspiration from their love in their artwork, in Basquiat's visual art, and for Madonna's music.
The relationship between Jean-Michel Basquiat, nicknamed the 'enfant terrible' of street-art, and the future Queen of Pop was a love affair lived between art galleries and the exclusive clubs of New York.
"I would often wake up in the middle of the night and find him not in the bed next to me, but up, intent on painting, at 4 a.m., his face an inch from the canvas, in a trance. I would stand in disbelief watching him get to work whenever something excited him." - Madonna
The (Tragic) End of Their Relationship
After just a few months of dating, the two decided to break up. While Madonna was preparing for the release of the album that made her famous and turned her into a Pop icon, Like a Virgin, Basquiat began a prolific collaboration with Andy Warhol that led to numerous collaborative paintings.
Following the break-up with Madonna, Basquiat decided to have all the paintings he gave to the Pop Star returned and painted black, as he was obsessed with the idea that Madonna might resell them, thus devaluing the sincerity of their relationship.
Madonna and Basquiat: A Bond That Lasts to This Day
After Basquiat's death in 1988 at the age of 27, Madonna has never spoken about their relationship. When asked to comment on the artist's death in 1996 she replied:
"When I heard that Jean-Michel had died I wasn't surprised. He was too fragile for this world." - Madonna
In 2015 she did an interview for 'Interview', the magazine founded by Andy Warhol, where she confessed some aspects of their relationship and how his drug addiction led to the decision to end their romance.
In 2017, Madonna also posted a photo on Instagram where she is seen posing in front of a work by her former lover in which her name can be seen in the top left-hand corner followed by 'Venus', the nickname of another past lover of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Suzanne Mallouk, both with an “X” placed above it.
