Known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols, Keith Haring was one of the key members of a legendary group of avant-garde New York-based artists who helped to redefine the boundaries of Modern art in the 1980s. Employing a pop-art and graffiti-like style with a range of iconic motifs, Haring aimed to make art accessible to everyone, and much of his work responded to contemporary social and political events. Using the city as his canvas, Haring’s initial fame came from his energetic chalk drawings in subway stations; however, he soon expanded his art practice to include drawings and paintings. Many of which were later shown in galleries and institutions throughout the world, with works of Haring’s now belonging in the permanent collections of over 50 museums.
In April 1986 and as encouraged by the support of his friends and mentors, including the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring opened the first of his Pop Shop retail stores. Selling reproduction works of his universally recognisable imagery, Haring viewed Pop Shop as being ‘an extension of what [he] was doing in the subway stations, breaking down the barriers between high and low art’ (Keith Haring quoted in Andrew Yarrow, 'Keith Haring, Artist, Dies at 31; Career Began in Subway Graffiti', The New York Times, 17 February, 1990, online).
Executed in 1990, Best Buddies was Haring’s last print produced before his death that same year. Created for Best Buddies International, an organisation offering opportunities for those living with developmental disabilities, the work captures the spirit of friendship and acceptance. It helped to raise over $500,000, thus leaving a lasting gift for the organisation and many lives touched by it.
Private Collection Heritage Auctions, Texas, 14 November 2015, lot 70221 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Literature
Klaus Littman ed., Keith Haring: Editions on Paper 1982-1990, Ostfildern-Ruit, 1993, pp. 184-185 (another example illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
Known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols, Keith Haring was one of the key members of a legendary group of avant-garde New York-based artists who helped to redefine the boundaries of Modern art in the 1980s. Employing a pop-art and graffiti-like style with a range of iconic motifs, Haring aimed to make art accessible to everyone, and much of his work responded to contemporary social and political events. Using the city as his canvas, Haring’s initial fame came from his energetic chalk drawings in subway stations; however, he soon expanded his art practice to include drawings and paintings. Many of which were later shown in galleries and institutions throughout the world, with works of Haring’s now belonging in the permanent collections of over 50 museums.
In April 1986 and as encouraged by the support of his friends and mentors, including the likes of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring opened the first of his Pop Shop retail stores. Selling reproduction works of his universally recognisable imagery, Haring viewed Pop Shop as being ‘an extension of what [he] was doing in the subway stations, breaking down the barriers between high and low art’ (Keith Haring quoted in Andrew Yarrow, 'Keith Haring, Artist, Dies at 31; Career Began in Subway Graffiti', The New York Times, 17 February, 1990, online).
Executed in 1990, Best Buddies was Haring’s last print produced before his death that same year. Created for Best Buddies International, an organisation offering opportunities for those living with developmental disabilities, the work captures the spirit of friendship and acceptance. It helped to raise over $500,000, thus leaving a lasting gift for the organisation and many lives touched by it.
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.
1990 titled "BEST BUDDIES" along bottom edge; numbered '59/200' lower right; further numbered '59/200' on a certificate of authenticity issued by the Keith Haring Estate on the reverse screenprint in colours on wove paper sheet 66.2 x 81.3 cm. (26 1/8 x 32 in.) frame 95.6 x 112.2 cm. (37 5/8 x 44 1/8 in.) Published by Durham Press, Durham in 1990, this work is number 59 from an edition of 200, and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the Keith Haring estate.