Studio Museum in Harlem Reopens With Historic Basquiat Acquisition
November 9, 2025
After years of renovation, the Studio Museum in Harlem unveils its new home while celebrating a major addition to its collection—a rare Jean-Michel Basquiat painting gifted by longtime supporters.
The Studio Museum in Harlem prepares to reopen on November 15, revealing both a striking new building and a historic acquisition that solidifies its cultural significance. Among the works joining its permanent collection is Bayou, the first Jean-Michel Basquiat painting to enter the museum’s holdings.
The painting was donated in 2023 by financier Joseph Perella and his wife, Amy. Perella, who mentors Studio Museum board chair Raymond J. McGuire, played a crucial role in facilitating this significant contribution to the Harlem institution.
Despite Basquiat’s global recognition, his presence in major U.S. museum collections remains surprisingly limited, making this acquisition a milestone for an institution dedicated to celebrating Black artists, according to ARTnews.
The Museum of Modern Art has exhibited Basquiat’s Glenn (1985) but only as a loan from a private collector. As art critic Bob Nickas observed, MoMA’s reliance on loans highlights the absence of a Basquiat in its permanent collection—an implicit invitation for donors to address this gap. That call appears to have been answered at the Studio Museum.
Other institutions have faced similar challenges. The Whitney Museum of American Art acquired Hollywood Africans (1983) decades ago, while the Metropolitan Museum of Art obtained its first Basquiat works only in 2021.
Bayou, created in 1984, showcases Basquiat’s signature style with layered imagery and text. The work features fragments of a multiplication table, a delicately drawn hand, and words like “WASTEWATER” and “SOUTH,” possibly referencing the artist’s time in New Orleans and his explorations of geography, race, and history. The piece was likely exhibited in 1985 at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich, the gallery that helped launch Basquiat’s international career.
Now, decades later, Bayou returns to Harlem, the neighborhood where Basquiat’s artistic journey began. With its reopening, the Studio Museum not only reclaims its position as a center for Black artistry but also ensures that Basquiat’s transformative voice in American art has a permanent home in the community that shaped him.
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