Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta

The title, Undiscovered genius of the Mississippi Delta, and the banner at the top of the painting, "THE DEEP SOUTH 1912-1936-1951," hint at the meaning of the entwined text and images. The words "MISSISSIPPI" and "NEGROES" are each repeated three times in a row, "a sonic echo of insistence and emphasis."{{Cite web|last=Wolfe|first=Shira|date=July 1, 2020|title=Iconic Artworks: Basquiat's Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta|url=https://magazine.artland.com/iconic-artworks-basquiats-undiscovered-genius-of-the-mississippi-delta/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Artland Magazine|language=en-US}} As art critic Francesco Pellizzi observed, "His use of words, however, belongs more to the oral traditions of Afro-American cultures—the ecstatic invocations of Voodoo worshipers; the inflamed and inflaming spiritual rhetoric of Baptist preachers with their rousing, recurring, rhythmic juxtapositions of ethical, cosmological, and practical tenets; and, of course, now, black rap…"{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat, Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta t|url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/contemporary-art-evening-sale-n09141/lot.20.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Sotheby's}} Another repeated word is "MARK TWAIN," whose book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is noted for its satire on racism as the protagonist travels along the Mississippi River.

Grégoire Billault, a senior VP at Sotheby's explained the significance of the artwork in an interview with the HuffPost: "By coupling the symbols and phrases most closely associated with the African American story with the abstract expressionist painterly technique in the multi-panel format, Jean-Michel Basquiat created an exceptional masterpiece of history painting."{{Cite web|last=Brooks|first=Katherine|date=April 30, 2014|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat Creates His Own Racial History In 'Undiscovered Genius Of The Mississippi Delta'|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/undiscovered-genius-of-the-mississippi-delta_n_5234962|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=HuffPost|language=en}}

Undiscovered genius of the Mississippi Delta has been exhibited at major art institutions worldwide, which include:

• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Vrej Baghoomian Gallery in New York, October–November 1989.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, October 1992–February 1993; The Menil Collection in Houston, March–May 1993; Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, May–August 1993; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Alabama, November 1993–January 1994.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat at Serpentine Gallery in London, March–April 1996; Palacio Episcopal de Málaga in Spain, May–July 1996.
• Basquiat at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, March 11–June 2005;{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Brooklyn Museum: Basquiat|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/basquiat|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Brooklyn Museum}} Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, July–October 2005;{{Cite web|title=Basquiat: A Major Retrospective - Museum of Contemporary Art, LA - Absolutearts.com|url=https://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2005/07/18/33164.html|access-date=2020-10-02|website=www.absolutearts.com}} Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 2005–February 2006.
• Basquiat at Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, May–September 2010;{{Cite web|title=Jean-Michel Basquiat at Fondation Beyeler|url=https://www.artforum.com/print/previews/201005/jean-michel-basquiat-25525|access-date=2020-10-02|website=www.artforum.com|language=en-US}} Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, October 2010–January 2011.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Basquiat|url=https://www.mam.paris.fr/en/expositions/exhibitions-basquiat|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Musée d’Art Moderne de Pari|language=en}}
• Blues for Smoke at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, February–April 2013;{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Blues for Smoke|url=https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/BluesForSmoke|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Whitney Museum of Art|language=en}} Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, October 2012–January 2013.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Blues for Smoke|url=https://www.moca.org/exhibition/blues-for-smoke|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-02|website=The Museum of Contemporary Art}}
• The painting is listed in the catalogue for the Basquiat and the Bayou exhibit at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans (October 2014–January 2015), but it wasn't included in the installation.{{Cite web|last=d'Addario|first=John|date=October 30, 2014|title=Basquiat in the American South|url=https://hyperallergic.com/158724/basquiat-in-the-american-south/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-10|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US}}

• List of paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

{{Jean-Michel Basquiat}}

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Category:Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Category:1983 paintings

Category:Animals in art

Category:Rivers in art

Category:Works about the Mississippi River