The Basquiato Series of paintings in Italy, not approved by him, is housed in the Beyeler Foundation in Switzerland. Photo.

Although he is practically associated with the underground scene of New York in the1980s, Jean-Michel Basquiat also traveled frequently to Asia and Europe. During one of his trips to the Italian city of Modena in1982, he created a group of eight new paintings for an exhibition with the dealer Emilio Mazzoli, which never took place.

Over time, these works embarked on their own journeys around the world. Just over40 years later, they were brought together for the first time for a new exhibition at the Beyeler Foundation in the Swiss town of Riehen, near Basel..

** Characteristic expressive works each measure no less than six and a half by13 feet and usually focus on a single isolated character, who is sometimes accompanied by a cow or a dog. They lack the common metropolis motifs that Baskiat typically used and seem to reflect his new, more provincial location.

Some compositions were sprayed onto old canvases discarded by the artist Mario Schifano, and they are all easily recognizable thanks to the inscription "Modena" on the back. Thus, they can be viewed as a cohesive whole.

Basquiat was only 21 years old in 1982, but his star was rapidly rising, and in June he was the youngest artist exhibiting at Documenta 7 in Kassel.

Basquiat's paintings were eventually sold by his New York gallerist Annina Nosei, some of which became his most famous and highly valued works.

The exhibition "Baskiyat: Modern Paintings" will run until August 27. A preview of the works from the exhibition is presented below.