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Acquired directly from Haring’s primary dealer and friend Tony Shafrazi, Keith Haring’s Untitled belongs to a discrete series of tondo canvases painted in 1985. Grappling with themes of inequality and power, the present composition depicts an outstretched figure being plucked apart by the hands of higher forces. While studying at the School of Visual Arts, Haring developed his highly recognizable figurative style that evidences his interest in semiotics, or the study of signs, to interrogate the ability for images to communicate meaning by stripping them down to their most rudimentary forms. Coalescing the lighthearted appeal of cartoon imagery with the raw energy Jean Dubuffet’s Art Brut, Untitled embodies Haring’s investigations on the systems of power in contemporary culture expressed through simplified, bold outlines. A leitmotif in Haring’s oeuvre, the X-sign on the figure’s stomach signifies a target of anti-establishment, exemplifying Haring’s thematic explorations on social inequity and subjugation.
Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Image: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY "I think as much as possible, an artist, if he has any kind of social or political concern, has to try to cut through those things, and to expose as much as possible what he sees so that some people think about things that they don’t normally think about."
—Keith HaringIn this work, as well as in his monumental Ten Commandments from the same year, Haring reinterprets the dogma of Christianity by inverting its messaging. In an interview about the Ten Commandment series, Haring stated, “The way I worked on the Ten Commandments is: even though it says ‘thou shalt not steal,’ the picture I show is someone stealing: the antithesis. I present what not to do instead of saying ‘this is what you should do.”i Reflecting Haring’s interest in subverting religious imagery, the X-sign also symbolizes a cross. In Untitled, Haring carries the religious reference further in the shape of a tondo—a format widely popularized during the Italian High Renaissance and intertwined with the history of Christianity. By infusing this allusion in the work’s very compositional form, Haring communicates his message to viewers with a striking dual force.
Scheggia, The Triumph of Fame, ca. 1449. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Often utilized as a motif in classical architecture, the tondo aligned with Haring’s interest in bringing high art into the everyday world. A keen student of art history, Haring may have been inspired to use the circular canvas after a visit to Italy on the occasion of his exhibition at Galleria Salvatore Ala in 1984. In Untitled, Haring adapted his iconic lexicon of signs and symbols to the circular format to make his activist message both universally legible and his own. In the words of Timothy Leary, “Keith [was] a child of Marshall McLuhan, who said, ‘The medium is the message.’ For Keith, his medium is his message.”ii
Laocoön, 1st century CE. Cortile del Belvedere, Museo Pio Clementino, Vatican Museums, Image: © Vanni Archive/ Art Resource, NY i Keith Haring, quoted in Sylvie Couderc, trans. Sylvie Marchand, “The Ten Commandments, An Interview,” December 1985, online.
ii Timothy Leary, “Memories,” in The Keith Haring Show, exh. cat., Fondazione Triennale, Milan, 2005, p. 148.
Provenance
Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1985Literature
The Keith Haring Show, exh. cat., Fondazione La Triennale di Milano, Milan, 2005, no. 90, p. 245 (illustrated)
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.
47
Untitled
signed and dated "K. Haring OCT. 17-85 ⊕©" on the reverse
oil and acrylic on canvas
diameter 35 7/8 in. (91.4 cm)
Painted in 1985.
Estimate
$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,482,000
Amanda Lo Iacono
Head of Auctions
New York
+1 212 940 1278
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
New York Auction 23 June 2021
1
Cinga Samson
Two piece 1
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $378,000
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2
Jadé Fadojutimi
Untitled
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $390,600
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3
Salman Toor
Fort Greene
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $478,800
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4
Avery Singer
Untitled
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $4,144,000
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5
Matthew Wong
The Reader
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $2,329,000
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6
Winston Churchill
The Moat, Breccles
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,845,000
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7
Matthew Wong
Field in a Dream
Estimate $1,500,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $2,934,000
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8
Jean Dubuffet
L'homme à la toque
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,571,000
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9
Emily Mae Smith
Waiting Room
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $756,000
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10
Nicole Eisenman
Whatever Guy
Estimate $600,000 - 800,000
Sold for $840,700
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11
Norman Lewis
Abstract City
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,119,000
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12
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol
Bananas
Estimate $4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for $4,300,000
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13
David Hockney
A Neat Lawn
Estimate $9,500,000 - 10,500,000
Sold for $11,000,000
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14
Vija Celmins
Untitled (Ocean)
Estimate $5,500,000 - 6,500,000
Sold for $7,748,000
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15
Carmen Herrera
Green and Orange
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,200,000
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16
This lot is no longer available.
17
Brice Marden
Elements III
Estimate $3,200,000 - 3,800,000
Sold for $5,233,000
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18
Amoako Boafo
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $655,200
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19
Titus Kaphar
Untitled III
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $1,058,500
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20
Amy Sherald
It Made Sense...Mostly In Her Mind
Estimate $500,000 - 700,000
Sold for $3,539,000
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21
Wayne Thiebaud
Winding River
Estimate $6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Sold for $9,809,000
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22
Mark Rothko
Untitled
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $3,700,000
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23
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Batman
Estimate $1,600,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,800,000
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24
Keith Haring
Untitled (For John Sex)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $899,000
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25
Takashi Murakami
Red Demon and Blue Demon with 48 Arhats
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $6,080,000
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26
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild (940-2)
Estimate $4,500,000 - 5,500,000
Sold for $5,112,000
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27
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $3,902,000
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28
Willem de Kooning
East Hampton V
Estimate $700,000 - 1,000,000
Sold for $3,055,000
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29
Amy Sillman
Flower Giver
Estimate $300,000 - 400,000
Sold for $598,500
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30
Alexander Calder
Fourteen Black Leaves
Estimate $2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for $2,300,000
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31
This lot is no longer available.
32
Julie Curtiss
Three Widows
Estimate $110,000 - 150,000
Sold for $466,200
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33
Norman Rockwell
My Mother (Soldier with French Woman)
Estimate $350,000 - 500,000
Sold for $504,000
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34
Richard Prince
Nurses Dormitory #3
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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35
Mickalene Thomas
Portrait of Jessica
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
Sold for $1,542,500
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36
Andy Warhol
Mao
Estimate $3,500,000 - 4,500,000
Sold for $3,000,000
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37
Georg Baselitz
Drei Herzen (Three Hearts)
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,450,000
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38
Carl Andre
36 Copper Square
Estimate $2,500,000 - 3,500,000
Sold for $2,692,000
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39
Robert Rauschenberg
Untitled (Elemental Sculpture)
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $315,000
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40
Bruce Nauman
Musical Chair
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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41
David Hammons
It’s Not Necessary
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $5,475,000
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42
Andy Warhol
Shadow (Double)
Estimate $800,000 - 1,200,000
Sold for $877,000
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43
Toyin Ojih Odutola
Quality Control
Estimate $150,000 - 200,000
Sold for $340,200
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44
Robert Colescott
Gift of the Sea
Estimate $300,000 - 500,000
Sold for $504,000
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45
Dana Schutz
Swiss Family Traveling
Estimate $1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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46
Banksy
Love Is In The Air
Estimate $1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for $1,179,500
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47
Keith Haring
Untitled
Estimate $1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for $1,482,000
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48
Louise Bourgeois
Labyrinthine Tower
Estimate $550,000 - 750,000
Sold for $756,000
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49
Paul McCarthy
White Snow Dwarf (Doc)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000
Sold for $403,200
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50No Reserve
Jeff Koons
Gazing Ball (Demeter)
Estimate $400,000 - 600,000 •
Sold for $998,000
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