Julian Schnabel

Julian Schnabel is an American painter and filmmaker who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up partly in Brownsville, Texas. He earned a B.F.A. at the University of Houston and studied at the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program from 1973 to 1975. A 1979 solo exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery marked his breakthrough, and his large plate paintings brought him international attention in the 1980s. He moved into film in the 1990s with Basquiat (1996), then Before Night Falls (2000), which won Venice's Grand Jury Prize. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) brought him Best Director honors at Cannes, a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award, plus an Academy Award nomination. His later films include Miral (2010) and At Eternity's Gate (2018). He also published an autobiography in 1987 and released an album in 1995.