Jim Harithas, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, agreed to give him a show after Schnabel reportedly badgered him repeatedly.

[7] On seeing the show, ARTnews critic Charlotte Moser wrote, "Though still formative, Schnabel's paintings possess a palpable presence," but found the work "clearly influenced by post-minimalist artists whose intellectual ideas he might share but whose technical expertise and clarity of vision he has yet to acquire.

In 2002, Schnabel painted the cover artwork for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' eighth studio album, By the Way.

The woman featured on the cover of By the Way is Julian's daughter, Stella Schnabel, who was band member John Frusciante's then-girlfriend.

"[15] In the 2017 Swedish film The Square, set in a museum of modern art, Dominic West plays a character modeled on Schnabel.

I had been thinking that I might make a movie about Fred when his nurse, Darren McCormick, gave me Bauby's memoir, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

In May 2017, Schnabel announced plans for a film about the painter Vincent van Gogh during his time in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

The film At Eternity's Gate was released in 2018 and the script was written by Schnabel, French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, and Louise Kugelberg.

[21] Other actors include Mathieu Amalric, Mads Mikkelsen, Niels Arestrup, Oscar Isaac as Paul Gauguin and Emmanuelle Seigner as "the woman from Arles" or L'Arlésienne.

[22] In September 2023, Schnabel announced plans to direct an adaptation of In the Hand of Dante, based on the book by Nick Tosches.

[24] Schnabel published his autobiography, CVJ: Nicknames of Maitre D's & Other Excerpts From Life (Random House, New York), in 1987 and released the album Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud on Island Records (Catalog #314-524 111-2) in 1995.

Recorded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1993, the album features guest musicians including Bill Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Buckethead, and Nicky Skopelitis.

They have three children:[25][26] two daughters – Lola, a painter and filmmaker; and Stella, a poet and actress – and a son, Vito, an art dealer.

[28][29][30] His collaboration with Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal, who penned the screenplay and original source novel for Schnabel's film Miral, extended beyond the movie.

Schnabel resides in a former West Village horse stable that he purchased and converted for residential use, adding five luxury condominiums in the style of a Northern Italian palazzo.