In a resurrection few could have predicted, Jean-Michel Basquiat joined Picasso, Modigliani, and Munch when one of his paintings sold for more than $100 million. Nearly four decades after his untimely death at 27 years of age, Basquiat is one of the most recognizable artists in the world, his work not just headlining major museum and private collections but his image on T-shirts, sneakers, tattoos, and accessories from Rio to Singapore.

Drawing on more than 100 interviews—including family members, friends, lovers, gallery owners, collectors, musicians, academics, and artists—art-world insider Doug Woodham offers a revealing account of Basquiat’s life, work, and enduring legacy. He delves into Basquiat’s rich and complex family background, his overlapping identities, and the dramatic arc of his posthumous fall and rise—an ascent that has reshaped the art-world itself. This behind-the-scenes narrative pulls back the curtain on how the art world selects its icons and cements their place in history.

The first substantive biography in more than a quarter century, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon examines key aspects of the artist’s life—his childhood trauma, sexuality, cultural identities, and struggles with addiction—topics long downplayed in the museum and art world due to pressure from his estate. Woodham also uncovers the previously untold story of how a few against-the-grain speculators and gallerists—plus his uniquely skilled father—all contributed to bringing what Basquiat accomplished back to the center of the conversation nearly a decade after his death, and in the process helped to birth a new era in contemporary art.