Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of the best known artists of his generation and is widely considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His works are edgy and raw, and through a bold sense of color and composition, he maintains a fine balance between seemingly contradictory forces such as control and spontaneity, menace and wit, urban imagery and primitivism.

The conjunction of various media is an integral element of Basquiat’s art. His paintings are typically covered with text and codes of all kinds: words, letters, numerals, pictograms, logos, map symbols, diagrams and more, and featured multi-panel paintings and individual canvases with exposed stretcher bars, the surface dense with writing, collage and imagery.

The Blackwing 57 is a tribute to Jean-Michel Basquiat and his boundary-pushing art. The number 57 is a reference to 57 Great Jones Street in New York City, where Basquiat created some of his best-known works.

Blackwing 57 contains our soft graphite. Set of 12 special-edition pencils.

Artworks © Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Licensed by Artestar, New York