Born in Brooklyn (New York) to a Jewish family, Schnabel is one of the best known painters of the New York scene, well known for large canvases, often performed with mixed techniques, portraits and design interventions. He lives in a large studio house he himself designed according to his own personal conception of art, known as Palazzo Chupì, on 11th Street in the West Village.
In Italy he is perhaps best known as a film director. He wrote and directed Basquiat, a biographical film about the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat (1996), and Before it is night, an adaptation of Reinaldo Arenas’ autobiographical novel (2000), which also produced it. Before nightfall he obtained an Oscar nomination, with Javier Bardem nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor.
In 2007 he directed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, an adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's book. With this film he won the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival. The same film won the award for Best Director and Best Foreign Film at the 2008 Golden Globes, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Director, again in 2008.
At the 64th Venice International Film Festival he was part of the jury of the photographic award Venice Movie Stars Photography Award. Also in Venice, three years later, he presented in competition his last film, Miral.
