Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Untitled, 1980-83
Chalk on Paper
46 in. x 30 in. / 116.8 cm. x 76.2 cm.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, artist, activist, and philanthropist Keith Haring moved to New York City in 1978 and went on to create some of the most distinctive artwork of the last fifty years—his “radiant baby” and “barking dog” are instantly recognizable and his colorful Pop art iconography has influenced generations of artists. He often married a cartoon style with socially conscious messages about issues that New Yorkers felt were being marginalized or misrepresented by politicians and the media—the AIDS crisis and safer sex, apartheid, LGBT rights, and the crack cocaine epidemic, among others. An East Village resident, he often collaborated with that vibrant cultural scene’s most celebrated creatives—Andy Warhol, Madonna, Grace Jones, and Jean Michel Basquiat, among others.
A pioneer of urban graffiti subculture, Haring used his graphic skills to adorn the New York City subways with his chalk drawings in the early 1980s. Filling empty poster spaces with art where commuters would see his drawings, Haring championed accessible art and immediate engagement with a diverse audience. Between 1982 and 1989, he created more than 50 public artworks, including murals for children’s hospitals, the Berlin Wall, and art museums around the world. This lot is from his “Subway Series,” 31 drawings that originally sold at Sotheby’s for $9.2 million.
Established by Haring in 1989, a year after his HIV diagnosis, The Keith Haring Foundation not only preserves his art and archives but provides grants to children in need and individuals impacted by HIV/AIDS. Haring died of AIDS-related complications in 1990 at age 31.
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