Keith Haring American Pop Art Oil on Canvas for Auction at 888 Auctions on Apr 25, 2019

Keith Haring American Pop Art Oil on Canvas – April 25, 2019

Oil on canvas, stretched and framed. Featuring a figure within a poster layout. Signed K. Haring 83 on the lower right corner. Attributed to Keith Haring (1958-1990, American). 140.5 x 52 cm (16 x 20 inches). PROVENANCE: Private European estate

Click Here to view Lot #83 – Keith Haring American Pop Art Oil on Canvas – April 25, 2019

Keith Haring

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an American artist and social activist known for his illustrative depictions of figures and symbols. His white chalk drawings could often been found on the blank poster marquees in New York’s public spaces and subways. “I don’t think art is propaganda,” he once stated. “It should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.”

Born on May 4, 1958 in Reading, PA, he grew up in neighboring Kutztown.  His father who was an amateur cartoonist and may have influenced Haring at an early age to draw Walt Disney cartoons.  While studying commercial art in Pittsburgh, Haring came across the works of Pierre Alechinksy which influenced him profoundly.  Afterwards, he decided to pursue a career in fine art instead. He moved to New York in the late 1970s to attend the School of Visual Arts; quickly immersing himself in the city’s graffiti culture. By the mid-1980s, he had befriended fellow artists Andy Warhol, Kenny Scharf, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and collaborated with celebrities like the singer Grace Jones.

Diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1988, Haring’s prodigious career was brief, and he died of AIDS-related complications on February 16, 1990, at the age of 31. Before his death, Haring established the Keith Haring Foundation, a non-profit committed to raising awareness of the illness through art programming and community outreach. The artist’s mural Crack is Wack (1986), can still be seen today on a retaining wall along FDR Drive in Manhattan. Haring’s works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Auction Overview

Richmond Hill, ON – 449 fresh to market items will be available to the discerning buyers and collectors in 888 Auctions’ April 25th auction featuring the finest in MODERN ART, COLLECTIBLES & ASIAN ANTIQUES 2019-04-25. Taking place in the afternoon at 2 PM (EST), bidders will be competing against one another over a variety of items on display.

Visit the auction at 888 Auctions during the public viewing period:

Monday, April 22: 10AM-5PM
Tuesday, April 23: 10AM-5PM
Wednesday, April 24: 10AM-5PM
Thursday, April 25: 10AM-1PM