Keith Haring

Joost De Clercq, Knokke
Private Collection, Switzerland
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Contemporary Art, 22 June 2005, Lot 48
Private Collection, Belgium
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Contemporary Art Evening Auction, 5 February 2009, Lot 18
Private Collection, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Knokke, Casino, Keith Haring, 1987
New York, Whitney Museum of American Art; Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, Keith Haring, 1997 p. 32, illustrated in colour
Milan, Fondazione La Triennale, The Keith Haring Show, 2005, p. 192, no. 32, illustrated in colour
Lyon, Musée d'art contemporain, Keith Haring, 2008, p. 160, no. 38, illustrated in colour

Germano Celant, Ed., Keith Haring, Munich 1997, no. 38, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is slightly warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Close inspection reveals faint handling marks and surface dirt to all four edges. There are a few minute paint losses to the top figure's knee towards the centre. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Articulated on a monumental scale in vivid red and green, the rhythmic cadence of Untitled embodies the very quintessence of Keith Haring’s truly iconic artistic production. Originally executed in true urban style on the New York subway, the essential composition is derived from one of Haring’s celebrated 'Subway drawings'.  Seeking to communicate with a wider audience, Haring first discovered the unused advertising panels covered with matte black paper in New York's subway in 1980 to be the ideal medium and platform to disseminate his lively white chalk drawings: these would form the foundation for much of his future art.  Adopting a distinct style epitomized by chunky bold lines and rhythmic patterns, Haring's images began to proliferate in the underground and conveyed a raw primitivism which became immediately identifiable to the everyday commuter.  Haring dubbed the subway a "laboratory" for experimentation, an ideal means to dissolve the boundaries between the street, advertising, fine art and graffiti.  These drawings established his mature vocabulary of forms and found a surprising power within the fragility of the medium, at once defying vandalism and gaining widespread respect and acceptance in the realm of fine art.

Untitled sees the direct transmission of these early formative drawings onto a monumental tarpaulin, adding bi-chrome drama to the human plight against the mechanised anthropomorphic beast of modern technological progress.  Indeed, the sheer scale of Untitled is remarkable.  His paintings from this time were generally in three sizes – belonging to the largest of these scales in spanning an immense 120 by 120 inches, the present work counts among the most monumental produced in 1983. By highlighting his figures and shapes in vibrant colours of red and green, Haring's original black and white study immediately comes to life.  As if in ritualistic dance, the chaos that radiates from his scene procession, the floating computer screen generating intense waves of energy, and the giant caterpillar form sprawling across the centre of the composition topped by its leader waving a baton forms an endearingly surreal and intensely rhythmical pictorial schema.

Acutely aware of the semiotic relationship between image and gesture, Haring forged a graphic dialect of unfaltering line and succinct intensity to transpose the explosive and surging corporeal electricity of a new and powerful sub-culture. As a close friend and contemporary of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring was highly involved in the club and street culture of the East Village, Manhattan, and in 1980 embarked on a public art project that would span his entire career. Very much inspired by the innovations of 1960s Pop, Haring, alongside his Downtown accomplice Basquiat, took the dissolution between high and low culture onto the next level. Masterfully encompassing and traversing graffiti, street art and commerce (via his legendary Pop Shop), Haring’s pioneering practice challenged the precepts of the art establishment.

The early 1980s were of critical importance for Haring, who during these years cemented international acclaim and recognition.  In 1982, he made his Soho gallery debut with an extremely popular one-man exhibition at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery and later participated in renowned international survey exhibitions Documenta 7 in Kassel, the São Paulo Biennial and the Whitney Biennial. Representing a consummate expression of the confidence instilled by his burgeoning success, Untitled utterly exudes the electrifying pictorial language that engendered some of the most emblematic images of the late 20^th Century.