Through Maria Spiller
November 9, 2025
After years of renovations, the Studio Museum in Harlem unveils its new home and celebrates an important addition to its collection: a rare painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, donated by longtime supporters.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is preparing to reopen its doors on November 15, unveiling not only a striking new building but also a historic addition that enhances its cultural significance. One of the many works now part of the collection is ‘Bayou’, the first painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat to be part of the museum’s permanent collection.
The painting, a gift from financier Joseph Perella and his wife Amy, was donated in 2023. Perella, a mentor to Raymond J. McGuire – Studio Museum chairman and a prominent figure in the art world – played a key role in facilitating the contribution.
Although Basquiat’s name is instantly recognizable, his presence is in major American museum collections stays surprisingly limited. The acquisition is therefore a milestone for the institution committed to celebrating black artists and their creative legacies. ART news reports.
The Museum of Modern Art, for example, has exhibited Basquiat’s “Glenn” (1985), but only as a loan piece from a private collector. As art critic Bob Nickas once noted, MoMA’s dependence on loans underscores the “absence of a Basquiat” in its own collection—an unspoken invitation to donors to fill the gap. One such donor appears to have answered that call, not at MoMA, but at the Studio Museum.
Other institutions fared only slightly better. Acquired the Whitney Museum of American Art Hollywood Africans (1983) decades ago, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art did not acquire its first Basquiat works until 2021.
‘Bayou’, Basquiat’s work from 1984, is rich in layered images and text – a hallmark of his style. It includes fragments of a multiplication table, a thinly drawn hand, and words like “WASTEWATER” and “SOUTH,” which may be a nod to the artist’s time in New Orleans and his reflections on geography, race, and history. The piece was probably exhibited in 1985 at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, the gallery that played an important role in increasing Basquiat’s international fame.
Now, decades later, “Bayou” has returned to Harlem, the neighborhood where Basquiat’s story began. With its reopening, the Studio Museum not only reclaims its role as a hub for Black artistry, but also ensures that Basquiat’s voice—a voice that redefined American art—finds a lasting home in the city that shaped him.
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