NEW YORK.- The gallery Enrico Navarra, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the International Organization of La Francophonie to the United Nations, will present 30 Basquiat drawings mostly never shown before in New York. The exhibition celebrates the diversity of French-speaking cultures and opens the month of “Francophonie”.

On Saturday, March 3rd, H.E. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, France’s Minister for Culture and Media, officially opened the exhibtion in the presence of H.E. Jean-David Levitte, Ambassador of France to the United States, and H.E. Herv� Cassan, Permanent Observer for the .

On display at the French Embassy’s Cultural Services in New York, “this show testifies to the early and intense interest the French took in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work during his lifetime, whereby many of his works were purchased by French collectors,” explains Jean-David Levitte. “Basquiat is today admired across the French-speaking world, where artists in Africa and the Carrbbean look to his work as a model and reference full of pride and hope,” the Ambassador adds.

A 256-page catalog, Jean-Michel Basquiat, French Collections, with texts by Richard Marshall and Johnny Depp will be available. The show is free and open to the public until April 27th, Monday to Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 5 p.m.