Ignacio alzaga basquiat biography

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He had two younger sisters: Lisane, born in , and Jeanine, born in Matilde instilled a love for art in her young son by taking him to museums eventually enrolling him as a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Basquiat was an intelligent and curious child who learned to read and write by age four in a household that spoke three languages.

His mother who loved to paint and draw encouraged her son's artistic interests. Basquiat started attending Saint Anne's, an arts-oriented exclusive private school. In September , when Basquiat was eight, he was hit by a car while playing in the street. His arm was broken and he suffered internal injuries eventually under going a splenectomy.

While recuperating his mother gave him a copy of Gray's Anatomy to keep him occupied. The anatomical drawings from the book would have a life long influence on his work. His parents separated that year and he and his sisters were raised by their father. After two years, they returned to New York City. By now Basquiat was fluent in English, French and Spanish and was an avid reader in all three languages.

He had begun making illustrated books with friends from school and was participating in track. At 13 his close relationship with his mother was interrupted when she was committed to a mental institution, she would live in out of care for the rest of her life. At 15, Basquiat ran away from home.