Philip Righter's Basquiats Were as Fake as His Origin Story
At 81 years old, Annina Nosei is considered one of the foremost experts on the art of contemporary American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Her eponymous New York gallery was the first to exhibit the artist; its basement served as Basquiat’s studio for many years. In that time, the gallerist cultivated a comprehensive fluency in what she calls “the language” of Basquiat’s style. “I see it like a signature, like you recognize someone’s handwriting,” she says, through a strident Roman accent. “The true language cannot be faked.” Nosei fields dozens of letters and calls a month f...