AUGUST 2019

"ICARUS"

COMMISSION COMPLETED AND DELIVERED

"ICARUS"

91cm x 122cm, 36in x 48in

Acrylic on mesh

Silver frame

Just completed this commission

BACK STORY:

The Couple who commissioned this painting saw a similar piece I created that was hanging in the lobby of a river cruise ship that operates on the Danube. It was one of four paintings I was commissioned to make for that ship's lobby. When the couple saw the piece, they fell in love with the visual narrative and wanted one for their home.

The couple contacted Gate 1 Tours for my info and we struck a deal.

I've made several Icarus compositions throughout the years. This one makes #4 in my catalogue of works.

The origins of the ICARUS story can be found in Greek Mythology, It's a tale about a father and son (Daedalus and Icarus) who were imprisoned together on the Island of Crete.

The father (Daedalus) was an Artisan. He devised a way for he and his son (Icarus) to escape the island by creating wings made of feathers and wax.

On the morning of the escape, as Daedalus was fastening the wings to his son's arms, he uttered a stern warning: "My Son, do not fly close to the Sun. The hot rays will melt the wax--- your wings will come apart."

Icarus didn't heed. Emboldened by his new found freedom and awesome ability to fly, he defied his father's wisdom and soared upward towards the Sun.

Alas, the wings fell apart. Poor Icarus plummeted to the sea and drowned.

APRIL 2019

ABSTRACTION

24in. X 60in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

New work completed and posted for month of April:

MARCH 2019     

SPRING BREAKOUT     

Sneak peak: 3 of 15 New Paintings slated for Spring release    

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

36in X 48in

Acrylic on mesh

     White frame    

SOLD

5/21/19

SAN FRANCISCO

​

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

36in X 48in

Acrylic on mesh

     White frame    

SOLD

4/07/19

NYC

​

ABSTRACTION

"Asian Exchange"

48in X 48in

Acrylic on mesh

     White frame    

SOLD

5/25/19

CONNECTICUT

​

 JAN 2019 

to 

FEB 2019 

NOV 2018  to  DEC 2018

COMMISSION:10 PAINTINGS

MICHAEL STAENBERG COLLECTION

St. Louis

COMPLETED and SHIPPED

  SEPTEMBER 2018 

Folly Island Beach House 

 ABSTRACTION 

30" X 60"

78 cm x 154.4 cm

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

SOLD 9/15/2018

SHIPPED TO SOUTH CAROLINA

  MAY 2018 

Photo Courtesy: Sean M.

Sold May 13th

"MELVILLE'S TRIP"

 ABSTRACTION

 29in X 36in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

Virginia, USA

COMPLETED MAY 2nd

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

 4ft X 4ft

122cm x 122cm

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

SOLD MAY 5th

New York, N.Y.

SOLD 4/14

COLOR FIELD ABSTRACTION

31.5" X 60"

80.0 cm x 154.4 cm

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

  APRIL 2018 

  BRETSCHNEIDER   

    NEWS&SALES      

       OCTOBER 2020       

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
48in x 48in
122cm x 122cm
Acrylic on mesh
white frame

Photo sent by Eliot Levmore, who purchased this painting from me in late August. It's seen here hanging in his Manhattan home.

BACK STORY: This painting was completed two years ago and I was keeping it in storage and not showing it because I thought it an exceptional work.

This past summer, Mr. Levmore, a New York City resident and financial analyst, saw my work in Soho and researched me online. As soon as he saw a photo of this painting on my website, he was determined to own it. I knew then a decision had to be made on its fate. 

LONG STORY, SHORT: Every painting has a price and this one was no different. The price was met and I bid it adieu.

May it hang for the ages and never see storage again. 

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE
36in x 36in
92cm x 92cm
Acrylic on mesh

Partner entrepreneurs, Robin and Gary Murphy, purchased this painting from me in August. They just sent me this photo of the work hanging in their home in New York's downtown Financial District.

Well done-- THANK YOU!!

       SEPTEMBER 2020       

​

UNTITLED HYBRID ABSTRACTION

36 in. x 29 in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

Only a few days after completing and posting this painting on my site, Tuxin Ai contacted me about purchasing it. She had seen my paintings a year earlier in New York and had been following my website and work output ever since. She was waiting for the right piece to buy. When she saw this painting posted, she pounced.

PHOTO TO THE RIGHT: Tuxin Ai proudly standing next to her acquisition.

I guarantee you, the squint in her eyes is not because of the bright sun. She knows she just scored a beautiful work of art and (behind the mask) she is gleeful and broadly smiling---Quite the happy camper!

Even in this terrible time of Covid, where commerce in art and other things are flagging, I've been fortunate to have several sales to keep me a float.

My take on this pandemic is logical, circular, and rooted in an age old saying: "This, too, shall pass"

​

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

36 in. x 48 in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

When M. Collins saw this Color Field Painting last Sunday (August 30th) in New York's Soho District, she was immediately captivated. I watched; she stood in front of the piece frozen, eyes fixated, staring deeply into the work. This phenomena I had seen many times before. It's happens when the right person meets the right painting. Like love at first sight, there's no denying it. M. Collins purchased the painting right then and there.

Later that evening, she texted a photo of the work hanging on her wall. It was just minutes after I delivered it to her Battery Park City address. 

Yep! She knew exactly what she wanted (And) she knew exactly where it was going to hang!

Her instincts were proven right. Check out the photo she sent.

​

Sheer perfection!

Feng shui, Baby! 

Photo courtesy M. Collins

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE (MONOCHROME)

36 in. x 60 in.

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

2 COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPES (DIPTYCH)

EACH 36 in. x 36 in.

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

When K. Guinn first saw my work in New York's Soho District, it was in the early Spring of 2019. At that time, he purchased a diptych from me; two 36" x 36" Color Field Landscapes. 

PHOTO TO THE RIGHT: Diptych hanging side by side, far left in the photo).

​

This past 2020 Summer, Mr. Guinn decided to invest in another painting. His goal was two fold; he wanted a painting that would compliment his diptych and, at the same time, a painting that would also enlarge and add value to his portfolio of Bretschneider work. With a savvy eye, Mr. Guinn purchased his third, a 36" x 60" (Monochrome) Color Field.

PHOTO TO RIGHT: Monochrome Color Field is seen hanging in photo, to the far right.

​

​

3 Bretschneider Color Fields, as they currently hang in K. Guinn's Mississippi home. Photo courtesy K. Guinn

        AUGUST 2020        

NYC

Soho 

August 15th!!

My return to showing (since Covid) in 6 months!!

Arrived 7:30am. No one out.

8:30am. A car passes by!

How foolish was I to think New York would be abandoned---

8:00am. I start setting up. Still, not a person seen or heard.

I'm beginning to wonder; was this the right time to come back?

Suddenly more cars appear! Some start to park.  

I see the old faces. The dog walkers, too! 

As the Galleries, Boutiques, and Restaurateurs unlock their doors and start receiving deliveries, they see me and welcome me back---Many heartily! It's so good to be recognized---To be welcomed!

Damn! It's great to be alive!!!

         JULY 2020         

WORK FROM THE EARLY 90's SURFACE

David Alpert contacted me and sent photos of two paintings he acquired from me in 1991 ( At that time I was showing out of a 16 ft U-Haul truck in New York's Soho district).

​

The photo below was taken by David this year (it's one of two paintings he purchased from me) as It currently hangs in his Los Angeles factory.

UPDATE: David is offering this painting for sale. Inquiries may get in touch with me. Thanks!

    MARCH 2020 thru JUNE 2020    

PANDEMIC PROJECTS

 I caught the COVID-19 virus in early April ( experiencing mild to moderate symptoms ) and was quarantined, monitored at home by the NY State Department of Health for 21 days.

After I recovered, I was determined not to be idle, but be active.  I continued my work in the studio ( producing 9 large Hybrid-Abstractions! ).

Also during this period, I constructed a shed on my property to store painting inventory. (slideshow  below)

MOLLY PARKER COMMISSION

BOSTON, MA

ABSTRACTION

36in x 48in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

      JANUARY 2020     

HYBRID-ABSTRACTIONS / SERIES BEGUN

Brian Friedman (JetBlue Airway's Director of Litigation & Regulatory Counsel), sent me photos of his newly acquired Manhattan apartment. It features one of my favourite paintings "I OWN YOU!" which he purchased from me several years ago. (2013)

---THANKS! (I Love updates on the whereabouts of my paintings)

Painting Title & Specs:

"I OWN YOU!"

2013

4ft x 4ft (121cm x 121cm)

Acrylic on mesh 

Red frame

MARCH 2018

2018 ABSTRACTIONS

      New Energetic Series      

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

 4ft X 5ft

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

SOLD

Pittsburgh Townhouse

(Interior: street-level, front window & entryway)

Last August (2017) this 3ft x 4ft Abstraction (Acrylic on mesh) was acquired from me in New York by Pittsburgh Orthodontist, Joan Kao. 

She finally got the painting to Pittsburgh and, as she promised,  sent me these photos----THANKS, JOAN!

New York DJ/Musician, Joe Bijou, sent me this photo of a COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE he purchased from me in December 2017. 

The painting hangs in Joe's studio.

Photo courtesy Joe Bijou

---Thank you, Joe!

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

 36in X 36in

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

   JANUARY 2018   

​

FEBRUARY 2018

Through the years every painting I've made has found a home.

Of all the styles and concepts, the 36" X 36"  COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE has been the most successful.

My goal during these two winter months (JANUARY & FEBRUARY) is to produce 20 Color Field paintings.

From these 20 paintings, I want to take the best 4 and reproduce them.

4 paintings, in multiples of 10, each numbered and signed.

JULY 9 SOLD

COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE

30"X30" 

A savvy couple with their daughter "Violet" scooped this painting up as soon as they saw it. My favourite customers: appreciative - aesthetically tuned.

JULY 9  SOLD

ABSTRACTION

30" X 60"

Acrylic on mesh 

White frame 

Customer purchased for

her MIAMI residence.

SHIPPED

ABSTRACTION (Commissioned)

26" X 50"

Acrylic on mesh

Black Frame

SOLD

ABSTRACTION

30" X 60"

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

       MAY 2017       

Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!

   NEW YORK - DELIVERED  

    FEBRUARY / 2017  

  Trifecta! - Philadelphia delivered 4/25/17  

DIPTYCH

COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE

28" X 60

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE

30" X 30"

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

COLOR FIELD/ABSTRACTION

28" X 60

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

    MARCH  2017  

PROPOSED 3/05/17 

   COMMISSION   

42in x 60in

ABSTRACTION

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

Delivered 3/15/17 NYC

Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!

    JANUARY 2017     

ABSTRACTION, 28" X 60", Acrylic on mesh, white frame

SOLD 1/15/17 NYC

Picture sent in by customer. Thanks!

    DECEMBER / 2016   

Picture sent by customer. Thanks!

 A couple from Germany, while touring New York City, saw my work and bought a painting. That evening, the couple boarded a Lufthansa flight home.

24 hours after selling the painting, I received an email with a JPEG attached--- of the very painting hanging in their Berlin home!

To see one of my paintings sold, shipped 3000 miles, and then hung ( with a picture of it hanging!) in less than one Earth day

I say 

Astounding!

Remarkable!

IN RETROSPECT

The feeling I got when I received this JPEG was comparable to the feeling I get whenever I receive a delivery through AMAZON.COM

SUPER EXPEDITIOUS! :)

ABSTRACTION

38" X 50"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame 

SOLD 12/4/16  

 NOVEMBER / 2016 

ABSTRACTION, 48" X 48", Acrylic on mesh, white frame

SOLD 11/09/16 NYC ---SHIPPED TO CAMBRIDGE MA.

    OCTOBER 2016     

PAST/RENEWED!

This piece was originally exhibited at the CLUB 57 (New York City) in 1980.

I'm posting this picture because the piece is being considered for inclusion in the CLUB 57 RETROSPECTIVE (scheduled for OCTOBER, 2017 thru APRIL 2018)  at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. 

I'll post updates

"SHIFTING BORDERS"

(1978)

    SEPT 2016    

FALL ART SEASON BEGINS

9/28/16 (Sunday)

Two customers purchased a total 8 paintings! 

INCLUDING: A commission for a 9th painting! 

    AUGUST 2016     

Busy week.

5 (2ft x 2ft) Paintings prepped

for shipping to  St. Louis, Mo. 

3 paintings (one 38inx 50in, two 36in x 36in) prepped

for shipping to Boca Raton, Florida.

SHIPPED

   DECEMBER 2017   

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

36 in. X 36 in.

91cm. X 91cm.

Acrylic on mesh

Black frame

PROPOSED 12/05

COMPLETED 12/15

  SHIPPED  12/18

MoMA

DECEMBER 8th

7PM FILM SCREENING

(with discussion afterwards)

"OK TODAY TOMORROW"

OK Today Tomorrow. 1982. USA. Directed by Harald Vogl. Written by Vogl, Seth Tillett, and Bibiena Houwer. Cinematography by Tillett. With Joan Waltemath, Terence Sellers, Arto Lindsay, Jef Bretschneider, Tom Wright, Mr Parker Senior, Sedeo Dubai. Digital video from Super8mm. 93 min.

   NOVEMBER 2017   

 Hartford Commission 

PRIVATE HOME 

Completed and Shipped

Photos courtesy customer

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

"Lewis, Clark, Clark, Lewis..."

36in. X 48 in.

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

 New Orleans Commission 

LAW OFFICE

STONE PIGMAN 

WALTHER WITTMANN L.L.C.

(Attorney Larry O's office)

Completed and Shipped

Photos courtesy customer

COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPE

36 in. X 36 in.

91cm. X 91cm.

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

    OCTOBER 2017    

MoMA/CLUB 57

POST OPENING

After the opening of the Club 57 Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art:

1. A noticeable uptick in website visits. 

2. People I knew 35, 40 years ago emailed me photographs from "back in the day" 

1980-81

PHOTO LEFT: With friends inside my 23rd street loft.

NOTE: Two Basquiat oil stick drawings share the wall with "Shifting Borders". 

Sitting across from me (back to camera) is the cinematographer, Lisa Rinzler. This was before she established her prolific reputation with films such as; Three Seasons, Pollack, Menace 2 Society, Dead Presidents, Trees Lounge, etc...

One word describes Lisa's iron professionalism:                 Committed

Jon Neuburger took this photo and kindly sent it to me.

1978

PHOTO RIGHT: Lisa Rinzler took this photograph of me standing in front of my (just completed) "Shifting Borders".

(I'm seen here doing my "Joe Dallesandro" pose/schtick)

2017: MoMA

PHOTO RIGHT: Hanging "Shifting Borders"  for the CLUB 57 EXHIBITION (required more than a nail in a wall).

Special scaffolding had to be erected and electrical wiring had to be run through the wall. (This illustrates what length and expense MoMA will go through to show a work. In respect to the museum's efforts, this artist gratefully says "Thank You"  

MoMA CLUB 57 Exhibition Catalogue 

MoMA Bathroom: fifty-seven shades of Green!

CLUB 57 Exhibition Catalogue

pages 20 and 21;

left to right: Artists Jef Bretschneider and David Wojnarowicz

LINK TO SHIFTING BORDERS VIDEO

Sunday, October 15, 2017

While showing in SOHO yesterday, a man stopped and looked at my work. He turned to me and said years ago he had bought 2 paintings from an Artist similarly named "Bretschneider"---And those paintings still hang in his home. We deduced I was that artist.

Later that day, he returned and bought two COLOR FIELD LANDSCAPES.

...

That night, he emailed me a photo; the 2 paintings purchased from me 25 years ago. MANY THANKS!

Jef Bretschneider

1992

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

4ft X 5ft

Acrylic on canvas

Jef Bretschneider

1992

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

2ft X 4ft

Acrylic on canvas

#4 

COLOR FIELD/LANDSCAPE

36" X 36"

Acrylic on mesh

white frame

SHIPPED

VENICE, CALIFORNIA

Jill (Jyl) and Peter

:)

#5

COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE

 36" X 50"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

DELIVERED

New York

.

    SEPT 2017    

MoMA & BOXART

Sept 26, 2017, BOXART'S Jim Wines comes to my Nyack studio to measure "SHIFTING BORDERS".

THE PLAN:
jim will return to BOXART (in Brooklyn) where the container will be designed and built.
 

Another BOXART TEAM will return to Nyack at a later date with the finished container and pack the piece for the trip to the Museum of Modern Art.

UPDATES:

"SHIFTING BORDERS"

September 26th & October 3rd 2017

Oct 3, 2017, BOXART's Transportation & Packing team return with a specially designed container (built by Jim Wines and David Brant) for "SHIFTING BORDER'S" move to MOMA.

COMPARISON / CONTRAST:
SHIPPING CONTAINER & "SHIFTING BORDERS"

     Transportation & Packing Team
                            Left to Right:

Patrick, Matthew, and Lead Packer ( in fashionable denim jacket ) David Brant.

BOXART Lead Packer, David Brant, laying out the container's interior to secure "Shifting Borders" road trip to MoMA.

                            MAGIC TIME! 

Lighting Test for Jef Bretschneider's "Shifting Borders" before sealing the crate.

With the piece secure and a THUMBS UP!---It's onto MOMA!

   AUGUST    2017   

#13

COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE

WESTERN WALL JERUSALEM

27" X 56"

Acrylic on mesh

 White frame

8/23

COMMISSION DELIVERED

​

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

48" X 48"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

DELIVERED

NEW JERSEY

Picture courtesy customer. Thanks!

SOLD 

COLOR FIELD

24" X 24"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

SOLD

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

38" X 50"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

​

SOLD

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION

30" X 60"

Acrylic on mesh

White frame

      JULY 2017       

 "Setting-up (showing)  in this heat is murder"  

PHOTOS OF THE MONARCH EMPRESS COMMISSION

The Monarch Empress was built by Ilene and Dani Pipino for their company GATE 1 TOURS. 

More info about this commission can be found below OCTOBER 2015

 JUNE & JULY 2016 

          Traveling till July 10, 2016       

PORT JERVIS, N.Y.

From 1986 to 1992 I lived in the city of Port Jervis ( about 90 miles North of NYC). 

While there, I created and sold several Hundred paintings.

Two solo shows were held during that period. For each show, 1000 posters were printed and distributed.

Two survive.

APRIL 2016

Photos courtesy: Khan Family, New York City

EAST 72nd STREET

NEW YORK CITY

COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE

48" X 60"

Acrylic on mesh

DELIVERY / INSTALLATION

 MARCH 2016 

COMMISSION: NOW ONLINE

Interior designer Jenny Vorhoff of Studio Riga and interior designers Britt Zunino and Kate Gray ofStudio DB in the living room of their completed Tribeca loft project.

A vibrant Jeffrey Bretschneider painting inspired the living room's blue, brown, and natural finishes. The Mitchell Gold / Bob Williams sofa is covered in a durable contract-grade Kravet blue velvet, and a petrified wood stool by Organic Modernism and a table lamp by Aerin for Visual Comfort lend additional texture to the scene.

  FEBRUARY  2016  

Photo courtesy Addison and Clay M.

THANK YOU! 

I was emailed this jpeg February 3rd. Here's the back story:

Partner's, Addison and Clay, purchased this Color Field from me in 2012. At the time, they lived downtown, in the West Village. (N.Y.C.)

In late 2015, they bought and renovated a duplex uptown, on East 56th street. When they moved in, so did my painting

Color Field

4ft x 4ft (122cm x 122cm)

Acrylic on mesh

  MONARCH EMPRESS  

  OCTOBER 2015  

4 PAINTINGS

(53.5"X 37.5")

LOBBY/STAIRCASE

  GATE1 TRAVEL COMMISSION  

 NEGOTIATED AND AGREED! 

    WORK BEGUN:     

    COMMISSION BACK STORY:    

SEPTEMBER - NEW YORK CITY - SOHO

Early Sunday morning..

I had just started setting up (with only a few paintings out) when Dani and Ilene Pipano came upon my work. They stopped to converse.

"We've never seen work like this before."

Gate-1 is owned by Dani and Ilene Pipano. Their company provides Travel Tours around the world and employ over 300 people in the USA. They also provide livelihoods to thousands more wherever their tours go. The Gate-1 corporate headquarters is just outside Philadelphia, in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.

The Pipano's suggested my art might be a fit for a ship they were building, designed to provide cruises on the Danube River. Using their IPhones, Dani & Ilene showed me photos of the space and asked me what I thought.

I Create and Build. Give me an empty space, I'll fill it with a positive! 

My "Commission Guarantee" is straight-forward;

If you're dissatisfied with the end result, there's no obligation to purchase, your deposit is returned.

Dani and Ilene took my card.

3 weeks passed, it was now October. The phone rang. GATE1 was still interested.

When people remember your work (sometimes years after) that's a compliment ( and affirmation ) My work makes a lasting impression.

The Pipano's and I resumed our discussion about the commission. We agreed on Size, Style, and Price. A Deposit was made. Delivery is scheduled in 1 to 2 months. 

 MIAMI SHIPPED AND INSTALLED 

SEPTEMBER 16TH 

  EMAIL RECEIVED SEPTEMBER 10th  

• Subject Art Clearance needed

  • Message: 

  • Hi Jef,

  •  

  • I'm Melanie Little; I work as the Associate Producer on the twice Emmy nominated show, Million Dollar Listing NY. In case you are unfamiliar with our show, we follow three brokers that sell high end real estate in NYC. One of the listings we'll be featuring this season has one of your works hanging in their home. We would love to keep your beautiful artwork hanging in their home as decor, but I'll need to get a signed clearance agreement asap, in order for the piece to not have to be removed from the space before filming. If you could email me when you get this, I can send you a photo of the exact piece they purchased, along with our Art Clearance Agreement. Please let me know if you have any questions at all and thank you so much for your help! I look forward to hearing from you soon! Best, Melanie

  •  

  • Email 

•  

• Sent on: 10 September, 2015

• Thank you!

   SUNDAY JULY 5th   

Always on the lookout for objects, distinct and unusual, Anthony found a painting I made 25+ years ago.  He noted it In his interior design blog, THE JUMPING-OFF POINT.

Anthony Amiewalan combs the metropolitan backscapes for objects and ideas to utilize for his interior design business.  He shares these finds, along with his current projects, thoughts and commissions, in his blog, The Jumping-Off Point. Here's the link. (issue showing my painting) 

THANK YOU!

  TWO SUNDAYS  

APRIL 12th and 19th

 2015 SPRING BREAKOUT!

   DIANA MUI: A SPECIAL THANKS!   

Anthony Amiewalan

  SHANE GLOVER COMMISSION  

COLOR FIELD / LANDSCAPE

50 in. x 62 in.

START DATE

10/10

finished 10/27

Phoebe Hoban’s,

“BASQUIAT:A Quick Killing In Art”

JEF BRETSCHNEIDER

JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT

PUBLIC ADDRESS SHOW

Annina Nosei Gallery

NEW YORK

1981

​

Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”

The day after the show, Jean-Michel, who had been up all night partying, rode out to Brooklyn in a limo with two friends, musician Arto Lindsay and Jeff Bretschneider.  “"It was about six-thirty and I was getting dressed,”" says Gerard Basquiat. "“Jean-Michel was wearing a pin-striped suit and he came into the kitchen and he said, ‘Papa, I’ve made it.’ And he gave his younger sister Jeanine a pocketful of money.”"

Recalls Bretschneider, "“He went in and gave money to his father, and he was very concerned about his sister. He went there to park the limo out in front, to walk in with his clothes, and to show his father he had made some money. But I know he walked out of there feeling really empty. Whatever he went back for, it wasn't there.”" 

​

JEF BRETSCHNEIDER

JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT 

GAGOSIAN GALLERY

LOS ANGELES

MARCH 1983

​

Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”

The opening itself was glamorous even by Hollywood standards. “It’s like a Hollywood premiere …all this energy and vitality,” Irving Blum told the gossip columnist of The Hollywood Reporter. He was in town with Roy Lichtenstein. Also present were Gene Kelly, Diandra Douglas, and producer Steve Tisch.

“"It was a wonderful Spring evening in Los Angeles",” reminisces Jef Bretschneider, who flew out to California for the occasion. "“It was a huge, garage like space, swarming with people. I went with John Lurie and it was a fucking mob scene. Like a lot of openings in the eighties, it was not about what work was on the walls, but which people were in the room."”

Bretschneider taped the event for posterity. "“I decided to videotape peoples reactions to Jean'’s work. One young couple told me it was the biggest con they ever saw. Another guy told me he was one of Jean-Michel’s best friends. I had never seen him before, but people were already saying they were ‘a friend of the artist.’ I met another woman who said she had a friend who owned five Basquiats. Five Basquiats! One for each home! Shenge [a friend who would later become one of Basquiat’s assistants] was rolling joints in the office, where Jean was hanging out. Suddenly, Gagosian comes in with Roy Lichtenstein, this icon, and introduces him to Jean."”

When Basquiat took off for the private dinner after the show, Bretschneider left too. But, it seemed, Jean did not intend to include his New York friends." “I saw Larry’s Mercedes pull up beside my rental car,” says Bretschneider. “And I looked at Jean and we exchanged smiles. Then they just pulled away. Jean and Larry and Larry’s beautiful girlfriend. Jean was already moving up the ladder."

JEF BRETSCHNEIDER

JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT 

MARY BOONE GALLERY

NEW YORK

MAY 1984

​

Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”

“Basquiat’s first show at Mary Boone, which opened on May 5, 1984, was a huge success, despite the fact that Boone herself felt that it had been rushed. " “It was supposed to be in the fall of 1985, but then Julian (Schnabel) left, and I thought I needed something really energetic at that point,"” she says. " “Usually I don’t do a show with an artist immediately, not until I’ve already created a market for the work. So it was a very last-minute decision."”

Everyone showed up at the opening, including the artist’s father (Gerard), who seemed to appreciate his son’s work only in public, and Andy Warhol. Recalls Jef Bretschneider, " “Jean had moved into blue-chip status. Andy was standing in the entrance of the gallery, and he stood there the entire length of the show. It was a barometer to where Jean was in the art world. But the paintings were more like a wallpaper version of his work. The opening was a circus. The Day of the Locusts. People were pushing up against this velvet rope that separated Jean-Michel from the thronging mass, and Jean-Michel was letting in whoever he thought was appropriate. Some woman offered Jean her baby, and he lifted it up with his arms above him, and looked at us with a big smile. I'’ll never forget that.”"

JEF BRETSCHNEIDER

165 W 23rd STREET NYC

​

Excerpt from Phoebe Hoban’s, “A Quick Killing In Art”

​

Jef Bretschneider lived on Twenty-third Street and Seventh Avenue; “between the Chelsea Hotel and Squat Theater,” those were the directions he’d give first time visitors. Bretschneider’s apartment served as a kind of drug den and cross-cultural salon of the early-eighties, After Club 57, after the Mudd Club, after the last after-hours joint had wound down, a group of regulars would congregate in Bretschneider’s place and hang out until it was time to start the club crawl again. John Sex, John Lurie, Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, Henry Geldzahler, Billy Idol, Michael Stewart, Cookie Mueller, Klaus Nomi, Rammellzee, Fab 5 Freddy---the list sounds like a downtown social register." “Nobody worked,”" explained Bretschneider, himself a kid from the suburbs." “Everybody seemed to have underground incomes.”"

Basquiat left a number of paintings and drawings at Bretschneider’s apartment, and asked him to try to sell them to David Bowie. Every day, he would show up with a friend, musician Arto Lindsay, for hours of coke snorting, "“Whenever I got a new shipment of coke,"” said Bretschneider," “I would invite them for a taste-test. We’d sit listening to new music then go out to the clubs. We never discussed art." (Lindsay says with amusement that this is a slight exaggeration of their activities.)

One time Basquiat came over to Bretschneider’s and brought Nosei with him." “I thought it was strange and unorthodox to bring this older woman over."” said Bretschneider." “But she came in and was fascinated with the place. She said it reminded her of the sixties."

TERENCE SELLER'S  

MARIE 1973

ALICE and MICHAEL P COMMISSION

22in x 36in

NEW YORK

 F.KNOLL COMMISSION  

A SIDE NOTE:  BRICKMAN was the first Lighting Designer to use the Empire State building's new LED lighting system.

In the past, the building used only  two or three stationary colors (Arc lamps attached with colored theatrical gels)

During the filming of the Keys video, reports came in from as far as 50 miles away, claiming the deco giant's was in a swirl of kinetic light. WORD!

REFLECTION: On that night, the night of the Empire/Keys filming event, BRICKMAN, indeed, "owned" the Empire State Building.

EMPIRE #3 was shipped West. It now hangs in Brickman's Malibu home.

BASQUIAT

           &            

BRETSCHNEIDER

REMEMBERING JEAN

UPDATE: 

After posting the Jean Michel Basquiat drawing, I recieved several emails asking me "personal" questions about "the 80's scene".

Much of my energy 30 years ago was not focused. I was self absorbed and vainly directed. The decision to step off the New York bandwagon of the 80's--to clean up and reset priorities--

DEAR FRIENDS

It was the best thing i ever did!

Now:

I live today-- and plan for tomorrow.

In regards to "Remembering Jean Michel Basquiat",

I offer this 2010 posting:

When someone discovers I associated with New York's "Downtown" art/music scene of the 70's and 80's--- I'm asked, 'Did you know this person or that person?'  

Their  inquisitiveness is often driven by a book, movie, documentary, they read or watched. 

BACK STORY: 20 years ago, the author Phoebe Hoban called me. She was writing a Basquiat biography and asked for my input. Her seriousness won me and I participated in a Q and A with her over the course of a week. Prior to this, I had been interviewed by a film-maker named Krzysztof who had envisioned a feature film on Jean and was seeking anecdotes. Krzysztof's movie was never produced, but I did hear rumor the material he collected and the first draft script he wrote was purchased by the artist Julian Schnabel, who used portions of it in his debut film "BASQUIAT", with Jeffrey Wright.

  JEAN: AN ACUTELY ADJUSTED ANTENNA  

Before uneasiness and drugs stole him, Jean's phenomenal rise in the art-world was an exciting thing to watch. Artistic acclaim is rare. Few emerge.

Mutual interest, youthful encounter, dark humor, and self medication, brought Jean and I together. Watching him rise as quickly as he did made an indelible impression on me, and it was a life lesson. The knowledge I garnered about art and the art world---it's machinations---surpass anything the best art schools could offer---

Now, 30 years later, Jean's life, work, and premature death, have become art mythology.

So when I'm asked about Jean, instead of retelling what I remember and risk distorting facts, I refer my anecdotes in Phoebe Hoban's book, "Basquiat, A Quick Killing in Art".  Because she started writing it shortly after his death, my recollections were fresher then. By turning to that book, I'm assured my "interactions" and "perceptions" are consistent, never veering into whim and fancy. 

In retrospect, I thank God for all the good (and bad!) that has happened to me. I've been given the gift of time and space...

not to die 

--but to live

--to grow and mature! 

I am not the same man represented 3 decades ago in this book. 

I kiddingly say

--- I'm worse!

                                                                                                 JEF BRETSCHNEIDER                                                                                                                               2010

Jef Bretschneider (1978)

Photo: Lisa Rinzler

WINTER WEBSITE MAST HEAD

PHOTOGRAPHED JAN 2014