Jean-Michel Basquiat's paintings feature in Dr Martens new collection

The British footwear brand has collaborated with the late artist's estate to release the limited-edition line

Dr Martens Kids Basquiat 1460 featuring Basquiat's painting 'Pez Dispenser'
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Most of us will never own a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, but some of us may be able to wear something close to one.

British footwear brand Dr Martens has collaborated with the late artist's estate to create a limited edition line of boots and oxford shoes featuring three of Basquiat's works, Pez Dispenser, Dustheads and an album cover.

Born in Brooklyn in 1960, Basquiat made his name as a graffiti artist in the New York underground scene. He rose to prominence in the 1980s, impressing the city’s art scene with his neo-expressionist works and exhibiting in museums and galleries abroad.

The collection, made available on Friday, features Basquiat's well-known motifs of crowns and skull imagery. The Dr Martens's classic 1460 boot shows Basquiat's album cover design for the 1983 single Beat Bop by Rammellzee and K-Rob. It includes elements such as a crown, bones and scribbles of text.

The Kids Basquiat 1460 in white bears one of the artist's most recognisable works – Pez Dispenser, depicting a dinosaur wearing a crown. The work from 1984 carries a common motif in the artist's paintings, the crown, which is often understood to present ambition, power and class struggle.

The shoe brand's 1461 oxfords features Dustheads, a vivid work from 1982. In it, two grinning figures are illustrated through a frenzy of bold strokes and colours.

The large-scale painting is chaotic and unflinching, and these qualities come to define much of Basquiat’s other works. In 2013, it was sold at a Christie’s New York auction for $48.8 million. By contrast, the shoes retail for $130 online.

It’s not the first time that Basquiat’s estate has teamed up with brands. In the past, Supreme and Uniqlo have also released products containing elements from the artist’s works.