full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Jordana Moore Saggese: The chaotic brilliance of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Unscramble the Blue Letters


A sky blue canvas ripped open by an enoormus skull. Teeth bared through visceral shsales of oil and spray-paint. In 2017, this untitled artwork was auctioned off for over 110 million dollars. But it’s not the work of some old master. These strokes of genius belong to 21 year old black Brooklynite Jean-Michel Basquiat – one of America’s most ctrhmaiisac painters, and currently, its highest sold.

Born in 1960 to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother, baaquist spent his codhilhod making art and mischief in Boerum Hill. While he never aetntded art school, he lneeard by wandering through New York galleries, and lsntnieig to the music his father played at home.

Open Cloze


A sky blue canvas ripped open by an ________ skull. Teeth bared through visceral _______ of oil and spray-paint. In 2017, this untitled artwork was auctioned off for over 110 million dollars. But it’s not the work of some old master. These strokes of genius belong to 21 year old black Brooklynite Jean-Michel Basquiat – one of America’s most ___________ painters, and currently, its highest sold.

Born in 1960 to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother, ________ spent his _________ making art and mischief in Boerum Hill. While he never ________ art school, he _______ by wandering through New York galleries, and _________ to the music his father played at home.

Solution


  1. basquiat
  2. enormous
  3. slashes
  4. childhood
  5. charismatic
  6. attended
  7. learned
  8. listening

Original Text


A sky blue canvas ripped open by an enormous skull. Teeth bared through visceral slashes of oil and spray-paint. In 2017, this untitled artwork was auctioned off for over 110 million dollars. But it’s not the work of some old master. These strokes of genius belong to 21 year old black Brooklynite Jean-Michel Basquiat – one of America’s most charismatic painters, and currently, its highest sold.

Born in 1960 to a Haitian father and a Puerto Rican mother, Basquiat spent his childhood making art and mischief in Boerum Hill. While he never attended art school, he learned by wandering through New York galleries, and listening to the music his father played at home.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
comic books 2
art history 2


Important Words


  1. art
  2. artwork
  3. attended
  4. auctioned
  5. bared
  6. basquiat
  7. belong
  8. black
  9. blue
  10. boerum
  11. born
  12. brooklynite
  13. canvas
  14. charismatic
  15. childhood
  16. dollars
  17. enormous
  18. father
  19. galleries
  20. genius
  21. haitian
  22. highest
  23. hill
  24. home
  25. learned
  26. listening
  27. making
  28. master
  29. million
  30. mischief
  31. mother
  32. music
  33. oil
  34. open
  35. painters
  36. played
  37. puerto
  38. rican
  39. ripped
  40. school
  41. skull
  42. sky
  43. slashes
  44. sold
  45. spent
  46. strokes
  47. teeth
  48. untitled
  49. visceral
  50. wandering
  51. work
  52. year
  53. york