 The museum was showing the previously unknown Basquiat. He is one of the best known contemporary artists in the world. Basquiat rocketed to fame in the 1980s when he was just in his 20s, a contemporary of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. He was of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, and he captivated viewers with his graffiti and street art inspired paintings. But Jean-Michel Basquiat was just 27 years old when he died of an accidental drug overdose in 1988.