INTERVIEW // THE DAY BASQUIAT DIED

Paintings from Top To Bottom: All by Jean Michel Basquiat

Victor Littlejohn, a painter, was 22 years old when he met Jean Michel Basquiat. He agreed to a short interview - the following conversation ensued.

A: Tell me about the day Basquiat died?
V: Well, that day I was supposed to see a concert of Run DMC with Jean at the Nassau Coliseum. I'd gone by to see him at his studio and his girlfriend Kelle said he was asleep. I got home and the phone rings, it was Kelle saying something bad has happened and that we had to come over right away. I kinda didn't get it right away, what she meant at the time. My friend Kevin and I ran to his studio but Jean was out. He was dead when we found him.

A: What happened immediately after you found him out?
V: We tried to revive him by lifting him up and at one point we thought he was alive because air came out of his mouth. EMS arrived and started working on him. An ambulance took him to the hospital and they pronounced him dead.

A: How was he as a person?
V: Very genuine, kind, giving, passionate, friendly.

A: Was he friendly to everyone?
V: Most people.

A: So he picked his friends?
V: He wanted to be liked and at times he had a lot of money which brought him friends- later he was running low and not as popular so those people abandoned him.






A:Did he ever have a low period?
V: in the late '80s- he was not as popular as he was in the early '80s.

A: How did he influence your art?
V: I always enjoyed his work because its childlike and playful. He was the first black artist to make millions of dollars out of his art. No one had reached the level of fame and celebrity Jean held in his short time.

A:How old was he when he died?
V: 27