Iconic colours. Curated in yarn.

FTS Palettes - Basquiat

£28.00

From £22.00

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New Zealand Wool

8Ply Acrylic

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5 x 50g

5 x 100g

Inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat's electrifying Dustheads (1982), this palette brings together a wonderfully unruly selection of colours drawn from one of his most celebrated paintings. Explosive yellows, fiery reds and vivid blues collide with bold contrasts and dramatic dark tones. Subtle? Not particularly. Boring? Absolutely not.

We've translated Basquiat's energetic colour combination into a carefully curated yarn bundle, available in New Zealand wool or 8-ply acrylic.

Five colours, plenty of attitude and absolutely no obligation to stay inside the lines.

The Palette

Inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat's Dustheads (1982), our palette captures the painting's explosive energy and dramatic colour contrasts. Five carefully selected colours, available in New Zealand wool and 8-ply acrylic.

About the artist

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

1960–1988 · American · Neo-Expressionism

Jean-Michel Basquiat went from scribbling mysterious messages on the streets of New York to becoming one of the most celebrated artists of the 1980s. Not bad for someone who started out tagging walls under the name SAMO. His paintings were a glorious collision of graffiti, anatomy, jazz, history and social commentary, populated by wonky crowns, skeletal figures and cryptic words. He even managed to strike up a friendship and artistic partnership with Andy Warhol.

When it came to colour, Basquiat wasn't particularly interested in playing nicely. Fiery reds, electric blues, mustard yellows and unapologetic blacks fought for attention across his canvases. He layered, scribbled, scratched, crossed things out and occasionally left entire sections unfinished. The result was raw, energetic and wonderfully chaotic — although beneath all that apparent disorder lay a sophisticated visual language.

Basquiat's career was tragically short, but his influence on contemporary art, fashion and design has been enormous. He showed us that a painting doesn't need to be neat, colours don't need to behave, and sometimes crossing something out is the surest way to get people to notice it. And if in doubt, stick a crown on it.

The artwork

DUSTHEADS (1982)

Two wild-eyed figures, a riot of colour and absolutely no intention of behaving themselves. Painted in 1982, Jean-Michel Basquiat's Dustheads is an explosion of electric yellows, fiery reds, vivid blues and flashes of green, all dancing against a dramatic black background.

With its frantic brushstrokes, scribbled outlines and dripping paint, the painting practically vibrates with energy. The figures seem to emerge from a whirlwind of colour, their exaggerated expressions somewhere between excitement, chaos and complete sensory overload.

Our palette takes its inspiration from this wonderfully chaotic work, bringing together colours that might ordinarily be advised to keep their distance from one another. Fortunately, Basquiat wasn't particularly interested in “ordinary”.

About FTS PALETTES

ART & POP CULTURE–INSPIRED PALETTES

Great art deserves great yarn. And so do great album covers. From Warhol's unapologetic pinks and Basquiat's wonderfully chaotic explosions of colour to the eye-popping graphics of music and popular culture, our palettes take their cues from some of the world's most recognisable artworks and visual icons.

We've carefully paired shades from our yarn collection to reinterpret these distinctive colour combinations. Think of them as little ready-made colour adventures, designed to bring a bit of art history (and the occasional rock 'n' roll rebellion) into your next textile project. No gallery admission required.

COLOUR CHOICES & ACCURACY

Matching the colours of a painting or album cover to yarn isn't quite as straightforward as you might think. Different fibres absorb dyes differently, and what looks gloriously vibrant in acrylic might appear a little softer and more muted in wool. Colourfastness, lighting and even your screen can also affect how colours look.

Then there's the small matter of choice. We have approximately 70 shades of New Zealand wool and 90 shades of 8-ply acrylic to play with, so some colours are simply easier to match in one fibre than another.

Our palettes represent our own carefully curated interpretations of the original artworks, using the closest and most interesting combinations available in our yarn collection. They're suggestions rather than exact reproductions, and you're more than welcome to mix, match and make them your own. After all, even the greatest artists weren't afraid to experiment with colour!

INDEPENDENT COLLECTION DISCLAIMER

FTS Palettes are independently created and curated by Fulham Textile Studio. Our colour palettes are inspired by artworks, album covers and popular culture. They are not official merchandise, and Fulham Textile Studio is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the artists, musicians, their estates or their respective rights holders.

FTS Palettes - Basquiat

From £28.00