Keith Haring

Acquired directly from the artist

New York, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, Keith Haring: One Man Show, October - November 1982

This work is in very good condition overall. The colors are bright, fresh and clean. There is evidence of light wear and handling along the edges including some intermittent abrasions and a small dent at the top of the left turning edge. Under very close inspection there are some unobtrusive surface abrasions scattered throughout, including an 8½ inch diagonal scratch leading from the right edge approximately 7 inches from the upper edge. There is an approximately 2-inch diameter area of pale media accretion visible in the upper right quadrant. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Untitled is a bold, colorful and assuredly well resolved work, pulsating with the dazzling patterns and unrestrained depictions of freedom that are quintessential of Haring’s most beloved paintings. This powerfully physical example, created in enamel on steel, formed part of one of Haring’s most significant exhibitions and marked his first venture into gallery representation. Haring opened a one man show at Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York in 1982 to great critical and public acclaim, in which he transformed part of the exhibition space into a club-like environment and adorned the walls with works, such as the present, that best represented the scope and substance of his oeuvre. Reverberating with historical weight, this work not only represents an artifact of great significance within the artist’s oeuvre, but one that has aptly contributed the cannon of contemporary art as a whole. The Artforum review of Haring’s debut show at Tony Shafrazi declared that, “the character of habitual strength, speed and readability in Haring’s work has already been an important contribution to contemporary graphics and the art of drawing” (Edit de Ak and Lisa Liebmann, “Keith Haring: Tony Shafrazi Gallery,” Artforum, January 1983). Over thirty years later, this statement is even more relevant as Haring remains one of the most iconic artistic figures of the late 20th Century.

Keith Haring’s brief but illustrious career which spanned the 1980s began with a childhood interest in cartoon figures lifted from Pop culture created by Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, and other titans of the genre. Working many hours with his father to create his own homemade comic strips, Haring took to the cartoon format instantly. After moving to New York City in 1978, Haring was swept up in the thriving alternative art community that was developing outside the gallery and museum system. Haring and his compatriots sought to subvert the art scene and the distinction between high and low art. Yet, despite the fact that Haring cut his teeth making urban art on the concrete canvas with the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf, his approach does not really belong to the graffiti school. Many modern and contemporary art styles, specifically Primitivism and Surrealism, served as major influences on his works. In Untitled one can see both on clear display. Primitivism, an art movement that sought to return to prehistoric forms of representation, began in Paris in the early 20^th Century and had a significant impact on the Cubists as well as on the early Abstract Expressionists. The influence of Primitivism is quite clear in Untitled, both in Haring’s simplistic rendition of the human figure as well as the lines and dots that decorate the canvas and recall tribal Native American art. The Surrealist elements also creep into this work with the clearly illogical representation of both the interior of a human being and the landscape of the outside world. Although Haring employed several known schools of artistic expression, he combined them in a way that was truly his own. He developed a unique style, one that is now universally known and celebrated. The idea of individuality was integral to his view of his work, writing specifically in his journals that “art history…always was and always will be the product of the individual… art is individuality.”