Jean-Michel Basquiat with Bruno Bischofberger and Stephen Torton at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, September 1982.
Photos by Beth Phillips
The painting "Man from Naples" (1982) is in the background. It is part of the permanent collection at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. As noted by Sotheby's in 2021:
"Stephen Torton, who worked closely with Jean-Michel as his studio assistant of the early 1980s, shared his experience with Basquiat in those early years ... Torton reflects, 'There really are very distinct periods in his work. Basquiat defined that period that I worked with him, summer of '82 to summer of '83, as a specific period... and that period, Jean-Michel was into the Renaissance.' ... Shortly before meeting Basquiat, Torton had traveled to Italy, and recalls Basquiat's intense fascination with stories of that place. The second time Torton met Basquiat, he told him a story from those recent travels which Basquiat depicted spontaneously—a story which would become Man from ...
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