In the summer of 1982, when Jean-Michel Basquiat was 21 and at the height of his career, he traveled to Modena on the invitation of Emilio Mazzoli, the owner of Galleria Mazzoli. The plan was for Basquiat to create a number of large-format paintings that Mazzoli would exhibit in a solo show. The eight works produced by Basquiat now rank among his most valuable, yet the exhibition never happened. More than 40 years later, Fondation Beyeler has brought all the “Modena Paintings”—which are held in collections around the world—back together for the first time. —Elena Clavarino