Executed in 1984, when the artist is considered to have reached full artistic maturity, and reproduced in conjunction with the artist'ss estate in 2005 in an edition of 85, this screenprint on Lenox Museum Board is a wonderful example of Basquiat's signature method of mixing words and images. "Rome Pays Off" places the artist and his work in the context of significant historical and social events, which are referred to in the print through the use of words and various stick-figured forms.

New-York based street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) gained immense popularity at a young age. While still in his early twenties, Basquiat began his career with political and poetical graffiti that lined the walls of New York City under the satirical signature SAMO (“same old shit”). Basquiat’s works, originally obscure graffiti and later Neo-expressionist works, are characterized by dichotomies. In his own life, Basquiat struggled with his mixed-race identity, as his mother was Puerto Rican and his father Haitian, and his works extended to include the relationships that exist between wealth and poverty, inner and outer experiences, and differing social classes. Jean-Michel Basquiat died an untimely death at the age of 28, but his impact has yet to be forgotten. His works are exhibited worldwide in major museum collections and notable galleries, including the Gagosian Gallery, London, England (2012); the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2011); and the Gagosian Gallery, Rome, Italy (2011).

Selected Public Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Musée d'Art Contemporain, Marseilles, France