On 6th Street, the Brant Foundation's inaugural exhibit will feature the work of Basquiat

The Brant Foundation will make its debut on Sixth Street in March 2019 with an exhibition of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.



ARTnews, whose parent company is owned by Peter Brant, made the announcement yesterday.

The inaugural show will be curated by the Brant Foundation’s founder, Peter Brant ... and art historian Dieter Buchhart. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Foundation Louis Vuitton, will include loans from Brant collections as well as international museums and other private collections.

Brant said in a press release, “Basquiat has been a cornerstone of the East Village art scene for decades, and to bring his work back to the neighborhood that inspired it is a great privilege. Our family is thrilled to launch the Brant Foundation’s New York space with an artist who is central to the collection, and above all to share his legacy with the community that was fundamental in shaping it.”

Basquiat lived and worked at 57 Great Jones St. near the Bowery at the time of his death in 1988 at age 27. (He also lived for a year in 1979 in this East Village apartment, as you may recall.)

Brant reportedly began acquiring Basquiat's work shortly after being introduced to him by Andy Warhol in 1984. "Jean-Michel Basquiat is the quintessential Van Gogh figure of our time," Brant said in a 2013 interview. "He left with us a genius body of work."

The show opens on March 1 and will be on display through May 15. No word at the moment about about hours or admission. (The Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich is open to the public by appointment and free of charge.)

As for the building, the Brant Foundation at 421 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue features 7,000 square feet of exhibition space over four floors.





Here's a recap from recent years:

Brant bought the building for $27 million in August 2014.

The gut renovations started in April 2016 at the former Con Edison substation and Walter de Maria studio.

Brant's daughter Allison Brant oversees her father's contemporary art collection. This feature on her in the April 2017 issue of Town & Country reported:

Allison will also run this second space, which is in the East Village and will primarily be used to showcase the foundation's permanent collection. "So many artists my father collects have a connection to that neighborhood," she says.

And here are a few more photos from earlier this summer...









... and on the Seventh Street side...



Previously on EV Grieve:
About that "giant-robot laboratory" on East Sixth Street

RIP Walter De Maria

What is your East Village dream home?

Walter De Maria's 'giant-robot laboratory' going for $25 million; inside is amazing as you'd expect

Here's what Peter Brant wants to do with his new exhibition space on East 6th Street

When the world's top collectors of Dom Pérignon rosé came to the East Village for dinner

Reader report: 421 E. 6th St. will house Peter M. Brant's personal art collection

Peter Brant's East 6th Street Outreach Tour 2015 continues

Peter Brant meets the neighbors