Julian Schnabel was just 30 years old when his relieflike paintings made him one of the most successful and controversial artists of his generation. Art is consciousness, the psychic manifestation of knowledge, Schnabel has said. In Basel—where his paintings were first shown in 1981—he has installed the “Recognitions” series in the Kunsthalle and his works on paper from the years 1975 to 1988 in the Museum für Gegenwartskunst.

Schnabel’s combination, or collage, works are still sensitive and seductive in their delicate use of color, the sensuality of their materials, and the liveliness of their