MADONNA AND THE ART WORLD

In 1982, says Madonna's unofficial biographer, Andrew Morton, British singer Sade was serving drinks in the New York club the Danceteria. At the same time, the late artist Keith Haring, whose paintings would later sell for staggering sums, was doing shifts in the cloakroom. And in 1983, pop met art even more directly as the then little known Madonna embarked on a relationship with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, Morton reports. Basquiat would go on to be hailed as genius and lionised by the New York art world until his death, from heroin addiction, in 1988. More widely known than the Basquiat link is Madonna's admiration for the work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

BBC
Dec 16 2001