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PostWar & Contemporary
3477* KEITH HARING(Reading/Pennsylvania 1958 - 1990 New
York )
Red, Yellow, Blue #22. 1987.
Acrylic and oil on canvas.
Signed, with the artist‘s signet, titled, da-
ted and dedicated on the reverse:
RED-YELLOW-BLUE #22 Jan. 12. 87 K.
Haring FOR FERDINAND Keith.
75 x 75 cm.
Provenance:
- Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York (with the
label on the reverse).
- Former collection André Heller (Dedica-
tion to Heller‘s son Ferdinand).
Keith Haring was born in Reading Penn-
sylvania in 1958 and learned to draw at a
young age. Through his father, an engineer
and amateur caricaturist, he began to en-
joy cartoons. He soon dropped his studies
at the Ivy School of Professional Art in
Pittsburgh, as he did not wish to pursue a
career as a commercial graphic designer.
Now certain that he wished to make a real
commitment to art, he moved to New
York in 1978 and enrolled at the School of
Visual Arts. There Haring encountered a
flourishing art scene and soon met other
artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel
Basquiat, Kenny Scharf and Madonna. In
addition to the energy of this scene, he
was also inspired by artists such as Jean
Dubuffet, Pierre Alechinsky and Christo.
He developed his own unmistakable style:
the graphic expression, the predominantly
strong black line, the lively colours and art
in public spaces. Even when he experi-
mented with performance art, video and
other media, drawing remained his primary
medium. In the early 1980s he used the
black panels on the subway in order to
draw non-stop. These “Subway drawings”
helped him to process thoughts and ideas.
In 1981 Haring exhibited for the first time
at the Wesbeth Painters Space and in
1982 there followed a solo show at Tony
Shafrazi in New York. At the same time he
took part in documenta 7 in Kassel, the
Sao Paulo Biennale and the Whitney Bien-
nale. This success was also demonstrated
in his large public works, for example clock
designs for Swatch and a campaign for
Absolut Vodka.
After having been diagnosed with AIDS in
1988, in the following year he set up the
Keith Haring Foundation, which provides
financing and graphic material for AIDS
organisations as well as programs for
children. It is also dedicated to expanding
the audience for his works through exhibi-
tions, publications and the licensing of his
pictures. He used many of his late works to
raise awareness for AIDS.
In the mid 80s Haring spent some time
in Paris, where, amongst other places, he
often spent time working in the studio
of his friend George Condo. At that time
Condo was working on extended canva-
ses, endless automatic works in which
every part of the canvas was filled with
small figures and other objects. Keith was
also influenced by these pictures and this
style of composition and produced his own
densely crafted works. Condo writes about
this period in Paris: “Keith opened up a new
direction in painting, and it was interesting
for him to come to Paris. He was thinking
in terms of Calder-like, Léger-like large
colour surfaces, which he then covered
with drawings, and in leaving a white space
around the forms... he began to combine
specific pictures with one another, broke
the margins a bit and made them look
more painted and less graphic…He made
a couple of things in the style of the Cubist
period, but then introduced his graffiti-
like approach. Keith wanted to keep the
abstract language of Léger, Kandinsky and
Klee and definitely the black and white
sculptures of Dubuffet” (cit. George Con-
do in Ditch, Jeffrey/Geiss, Susanne/Gruen,
Julia: Keith Haring. New York 2008)
These new approaches and influences are
very clearly present in the work offered at
auction here, as well as the entire series
“Red Yellow Blue”. The series was painted
from 11 to 13 January 1987 and compri-
ses 26 pictures, which were later shown at
the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York. Our
picture came shortly afterwards, for the
birth of André Heller’s son, from his coll-
ection, and therefore bears the dedication
“FOR FERDINAND Keith”.
CHF 300 000 / 400 000
(€ 277 780 / 370 370)