Keith Haring - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale London Monday, June 27, 2016 | Phillips

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 28 June 2016

  • Provenance

    Private Collection, New York (acquired directly from the artist)
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Exhibited

    New York, Woodward Gallery, Keith Haring New York, 12 September-30 October, 2009
    New York, Leila Heller Gallery, Calligraffiti 1984/2013, 5 September-5 October, 2012

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present lot, Subway Drawing, 1982-84, was originally installed at the 23rd Street subway station in New York City in the early 1980’s. In 1985 Keith Haring visited his friend Steve Rubell, co-owner of the New York’s infamous nightclub, Studio 54, at his Punk rock club Palladium. Rubell asked Haring to dedicate the present lot owned by his secretary Marilyn, resulting in the inscription along the lower edge of the composition which reads 'FOR MARILYN – K. HARING 85.'

  • 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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175

Keith Haring

Subway Drawing

1982-83
chalk and silver marker on paper
113.7 x 74.9 cm (44 3/4 x 29 1/2 in.)
Signed, dedicated and dated 'FOR MARILYN - K. HARING 85' along the lower right edge.

Estimate
£15,000 - 20,000 ‡

Sold for £85,000

Contact Specialist
Henry Highley
Head of Sale
+ 44 20 7318 4061

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale

London Auction 28 June 2016