Bird on Money

Bird on Money was executed in 1981, the year in which he made the transition from a street artist to an established gallery artist. The painting is a tribute to jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, a leading figure in the development of bebop.{{Cite web|last=Whitehead|first=Kevin|date=August 28, 2020|title=Charlie Parker, Born 100 Years Ago, Made Jazz Complexities Sound Deceptively Easy|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/28/906215959/charlie-parker-born-100-years-ago-made-jazz-complexities-sound-deceptively-easy|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830213611/https://www.npr.org/2020/08/28/906215959/charlie-parker-born-100-years-ago-made-jazz-complexities-sound-deceptively-easy |archive-date=2020-08-30 |access-date=2021-02-01|website=NPR.org|language=en}} In 1985, Basquiat told The New York Times Magazine: "Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix… I had a romantic feeling about how these people became famous."{{Cite news|last=McGuigan|first=Cathleen|date=February 10, 1985|title=New Art, New Money|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/10/magazine/new-art-new-money.html|access-date=2021-02-01|issn=0362-4331}} Basquiat, like Parker, struggled with heroin addiction.{{Cite web|last=Steel|first=Rebecca|date=January 19, 2018|title=The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat: Legacy of a Cultural Icon|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/the-art-of-jean-michel-basquiat-legacy-of-a-cultural-icon/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701210040/http://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/the-art-of-jean-michel-basquiat-legacy-of-a-cultural-icon/ |archive-date=2014-07-01 |access-date=2021-02-01|website=Culture Trip}} He also paid homage to Parker in the paintings Charles the First (1982) and CPRKR (1982).{{Cite web|last=Fu|first=Eddie|date=April 10, 2020|title=Here's The Basquiat Painting That Inspired The Strokes' 'The New Abnormal' Cover Art|url=https://genius.com/a/basquiat-s-bird-on-money-painting-inspired-the-strokes-the-new-abnormal-cover-art|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-13|website=Genius|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200411101908/https://genius.com/a/basquiat-s-bird-on-money-painting-inspired-the-strokes-the-new-abnormal-cover-art |archive-date=2020-04-11 }}

Jazz music was a common theme in Basquiat's art and he often painted to jazz music.{{Cite news|last=Eshun|first=Ekow|date=September 22, 2017|title=Bowie, Bach and Bebop: How Music Powered Basquiat|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/arts/design/basquiat-barbican-london.html|access-date=2021-02-01|issn=0362-4331}} Basquiat referenced jazz musicians and recordings in over thirty of his paintings, including Discography I (1983), Horn Players (1983), Arm and Hammer II (1984), and King Zulu (1986).{{Cite book|last=Saggese|first=Jordana Moore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1UlDQAAQBAJ&dq=basquiat+charles+the+first&pg=PA55|title=Reading Basquiat: Exploring Ambivalence in American Art|date=2014-05-30|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-27624-6|location=|pages=55, 85|language=en}} Music journalist Tom Terrell wrote in the liner notes of the compilation album Basquiat Salutes Jazz (2005): "As Parker's bebop transcended jazz to influence musical and nonmusical pop culture worldwide, so did Basquiat's legacy impact on hip-hop and Euro-pop, Indie film and post-electric Miles jazz. Both men were absolute Zen masters of trans-cultural improvisation."{{Cite web|last=McNally|first=Owen|date=December 29, 2005|title=New Disc Reflects Art and Influences of Basquiat|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-12-29-0512290063-story.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708123109/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-12-29-0512290063-story.html |archive-date=2021-07-08 |access-date=2021-02-01|website=The Hartford Courant|language=en-US}}

Bird on Money depicts a black and blue yardbird in reference to Parker's nickname. Parker acquired the nickname "Yardbird" early in his career, which was later shortened to "Bird."{{Cite web|date=2020-08-27|title=How Charlie "YardBird" Parker got his nickname {{!}} American Masters {{!}} PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/charlie-parker-documentary/15474/|access-date=2021-05-13|website=American Masters|language=en-US}} Awash in repeated symbols and arrows, the painting invokes death with the drawing of Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, where Basquiat would be laid to rest in 1988.{{Cite book|last=Saggese|first=Jordana Moore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ScPEAAAQBAJ&dq=Bird+on+Money+basquiat&pg=PA312|title=The Jean-Michel Basquiat Reader: Writings, Interviews, and Critical Responses|date=2021-03-02|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-30515-1|pages=312|language=en}} Basquiat, whose mother was Puerto Rican, often incorporated Spanish words into his works such as "PARA MORIR" (in order to die) across from the drawing of Green-Wood Cemetery.

Bird on Money is also used as the cover of the album The New Abnormal by The Strokes.

• List of paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

{{Jean-Michel Basquiat}}

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Category:1981 paintings

Category:Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Category:Charlie Parker

Category:Birds in art

Category:Works about music and musicians

Category:Paintings about death