Sabado por la Noche 1984

Jean-Michel Basquiat painted "Sabado por la Noche" using bold strokes of acrylic and oil stick on canvas. Look at how he built up layers of vibrant reds, pinks, and greens – what a wild colour clash! I can almost feel Basquiat’s energy as he worked; imagine him circling around the canvas, making marks, crossing them out, adding more. What might he have been thinking as he painted these iconic figures and symbols? The dogs, the heads… they seem to emerge from a chaotic, almost primal space. That looping red line in the lower part of the painting feels very close to his earlier graffiti work. It’s pure movement, pure feeling. Basquiat was in conversation with the art history of his time, and also with the city around him. It's like he’s translating the world, channeling it onto the canvas. Artists are always inspiring and learning from each other. Basquiat's work reminds us that painting is an ongoing dialogue, a way of thinking and feeling through the world, leaving things open to possibility.