Keith Haring - 80s New York Friday, December 17, 2010 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist in 1982

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present lot is a drawing on the inside cover of the Exhibition Catalogue, Keith Haring, produced by Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York in 1982. The exhibition catalogue is sold as part of the lot.
     
    A truly exceptional document of the 1980’s, this catalogue functioned as a gift to visitors on the night of Keith’s first major gallery show. It was a way to share Keith’s ephemeral work with his then expanding audience, most of whom he had met while creating his chalk drawings in the subways of New York City.
     
    Several of the books were annotated and signed by the artist at the gallery upon the request of people visiting the exhibition. The texts herein are timely and personal, including a thoughtful entry by David Shapiro, which recounts his arrival to Keith’s studio with a weighty list of questions for the artist whose clever response was, “let’s publish the questions!”
     
    Its small scale, many illustrations and photographs of the city and the artist himself, and most importantly, hand drawn dedications, allude to a personal scrap book brimming with memories of the 80s and the artist who defined the decade.

  • Artist Biography

    Keith Haring

    American • 1958 - 1990

    Haring's art and life typified youthful exuberance and fearlessness. While seemingly playful and transparent, Haring dealt with weighty subjects such as death, sex and war, enabling subtle and multiple interpretations. 

    Throughout his tragically brief career, Haring refined a visual language of symbols, which he called icons, the origins of which began with his trademark linear style scrawled in white chalk on the black unused advertising spaces in subway stations. Haring developed and disseminated these icons far and wide, in his vibrant and dynamic style, from public murals and paintings to t-shirts and Swatch watches. His art bridged high and low, erasing the distinctions between rarefied art, political activism and popular culture. 

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66

Untitled

1982
Marker on exhibition catalogue.
9 1/4 x 9 in. (23.5 x 22.9 cm).

Signed, inscribed and dated “For Terry & Bill, K. Haring 82 ” on the inside cover.

Estimate
$10,000 - 15,000 

Sold for $12,500

80s

17 December 2010
New York