1988
Keith Haring began experimenting with his bold, graphic lines and cartoon-inspired figures on the walls of New York City subway stations in the early 1980s. He called them his “laboratory,” places to develop a radical new aesthetic based on an ideology of creating truly democratic public art.
Haring’s paintings, prints and murals address the universal themes of death, love and sex, as well as contemporary issues he experienced personally, like the crack-cocaine and AIDS epidemics. They derive much of their impact from the powerful contrast between these serious subjects and the joyful, vibrant pictographic language he uses to express them, full of dancing figures, babies, barking dogs, hearts and rhythmic lines, as well as references to pop culture.
To make his art even more accessible, in 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop in Soho. In a foreshadowing of today’s intermingling of art and fashion, the shop sold merchandise and novelty items featuring imagery by Haring and contemporaries like Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While his works sometimes included text, for the most part, he chose to communicate through drawing.
“Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times,” Haring once declared. “It lives through magic.”
Find Keith Haring art on 1stDibs today.
International Volunteer Day Envelope, Signed with Stamps by Keith Haring
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
This envelope was produced as part of "International Volunteer Day", a human right's cause created by the World Federation of the United Nations. This mailer includes stamps, the art...
Mixed Media
International Volunteer Day Envelope, Signed with Stamps by Keith Haring
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
This envelope was produced as part of "International Volunteer Day", a human right's cause created by the World Federation of the United Nations. This mailer includes stamps, the art...
Mixed Media
International Volunteer Day, Signed Envelope with Stamps by Keith Haring
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
This envelope was produced as part of "International Volunteer Day", a human right's cause created by the World Federation of the United Nations. This mailer includes stamps, the art...
Mixed Media
Signed Lithograph Coloring Book by Keith Haring
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
A blank coloring book designed and printed by American Pop artist Keith Haring. This copy is signed and dated in pen by the artist and features several illustrations in the artist’s ...
Lithograph
Learning Through Art, Limited Edition Poster by Keith Haring
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
Color lithograph fundraising poster for Learning Through Art/ The Guggenheim Museum Children's Program. Numbered out of 350 and dated in pencil. Blindstamped in bottom right corner. ...
Lithograph
Global Man, Pop Art Screenprint Poster by Keith Haring 1990
By Keith Haring
Located in Long Island City, NY
A limited edition silkscreen poster Keith Haring designed for Playboy. This limited edition run of 1000 was published in 1990 by Special Editions Ltd. The signature and date is in th...
Screen
Keith Haring Stedelijk Museum drawing & catalogue (signed Keith Haring drawing)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 15th – 12th May, 1986: Signed Keith Haring Stedelijk Museum exhibitio...
Paper, Ink
Keith Haring Handwritten letter 1986 (Keith Haring letter)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring handwritten letter 1986: A rare 1980’s handwritten letter by Keith Haring executed on the artist's personal stationary. A personal response by Haring to a New York based editor named Ira...
Paper, Ink
International Volunteer Day Lithograph, Hand Signed, Pop Art, 1988
By Keith Haring
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph in colors on paper. Hand signed and dated on front by Keith Haring. Hand numbered 497/1000 on front. Artwork size 11 x 8.5 inches. Frame size approx 16.5 x 13.5 inches...
Paper, Screen
Keith Haring The Homecoming 1987 (announcement)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring The Homecoming 1987: RARE folding announcement designed by Haring in 1987 to promote, "The American Run for the End of Aids". A rare, historic Keith Haring activist coll...
Lithograph, Offset
Keith Haring Handwritten letter 1989 (Keith Haring letter)
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring handwritten letter 1989: A rare 1989 handwritten letter by Keith Haring executed on the artist's personal stationary. An endearing personal response by Haring to a young...
Paper, Ink
Keith Haring Original Mixed Media Card, Contemporary, 1980s, Framed
By Keith Haring
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Keith Haring. 1958-1990. The iconography of his drawings includes dancing animals and figures, dogs, crawling babies, pyramids, televisions, telephones, and flying saucers. The idea ...
Mixed Media
