BASQUIAT & BOXING

First and foremost, Jean-Michel Basquiat was fiercely independent. Simply put, nobody told him what to do. He always marched to his own drum and as a result, had to be an extremely self-reliant man. Perhaps that is why he chose to do a painting symbolizing the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world Jack Johnson, who will always be remembered for living his life the way he preferred, regardless of the consequences.Very much like Johnson, Basquiat crashed through his field’s glass ceiling, becoming the first African-American to make a major impact on the world of international fine art. Johnson and Basquiat were also known ladies’ men with a particular penchant for white women; somewhat of a taboo in the early 1980s but behavior that could easily get a black man killed during the time of Jack Johnson in the earlier part of the twentieth century.