Popeye magazine editor, Tokyo Private Collection, Tokyo Swann Galleries, New York, 12 May 2022, lot 322 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Literature
'The World is Smiling on His Side: Keith Haring', Popeye, 10 January 1983, pp. 75, 97 (illustrated)
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.
signed, titled and dated 'DRAWING FOR "POPEYE" Keith Haring 82 NOV. 12' right margin felt-tip pen and ink on paper folded: 35.2 x 35.2 cm (13 7/8 x 13 7/8 in.) sheet: 35.2 x 43 cm (13 7/8 x 16 7/8 in.) Executed in 1982.