Musee Mairie in Paris
Musee Mairie in Paris

Arguably, the last generation of great visual artists to come out of New York were born more of grit and grind than glitz and glamour. While today’s city has become an unparalleled tourist destination and is synonymous with an urban American renaissance, many long-time New Yorkers actually yearn for the days when the city was far less polished. It’s not the crime and neglect of the 1970s and 80s that renders New Yorkers nostalgic, rather the thriving art scene and emerging cultural shifts that came with the cheap rents of the time. 1980s New York was a place where change was in the air; and it was embodied by a new generation of artists with new styles of expression. Among them was Jean-Michel Basquiat, a young man that epitomized the re-emergence of visual art in popular culture and who was consumed by the excesses of his era.

This fall, the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, in the 16th arrondissement, celebrates Jean-Michel Basquiat, who counted Keith Herring and Andy Warhol among his contemporaries and collaborators. In embracing a young artist born of Puerto Rican and Haitian parents, schooled on fine art with a spray can on the walls of Manhattan, and whose rising star burnt tragically over night, the museum is celebrating a New York that doesn’t really exist anymore, for better or worse. Much more than just cultural artifacts, Basquiat’s work was groundbreaking in many ways. For one, his work was some of the first examples of street art being embraced by the high art establishment. During Basquait’s short career he rocketed from a sporadically homeless graffiti artist to being featured in an exhibit at the famed Whitney Museum. The artist became an important player in the emerging neo-expressionism of the time and seemed destined for continuing commercial and critical success, even collaboration with an already iconic Andy Warhol, when he fatally overdosed on heroin and cocaine. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris rightfully pays homage to a man that defined his era.

With the exhibit running until late January, there’s still plenty of time for visitors to rent a nearby New York Habitat accommodations in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Below are a few choice Paris apartments to help get your search off-the-ground:

If you have been to the Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris share some comments below.