Keith Haring

Keith Haring (American, 1958-1990) Untitled (The Church of the Ascension Grace House Mural), circa 1983/1984 oil-based house paint on cement wall thirteen figures with two doors and one mailbox panel Dimensions: Height x Width x Depth Figure I: 97 1/2 x 69 1/4 x 6 in. (247.7 x 175.9 x 15.2 cm.) Figure II: 90 x 63 x 4 in. (228.6 x 160 x 10.2 cm.) Figure III: 90 3/4 x 74 1/2 x 6 in. (230.5 x 189.2 x 15.2 cm.) Figure IV: 83 x 72 1/4 x 5 in. (210.8 x 183.5 x 12.7 cm.) Figure V: 81 1/2 x 111 x 5 in. (207 x 281.9 x 12.7 cm.) Figure VI: 79 x 112 x 5 in. (200.7 x 284.5 x 12.7 cm.) Figure VII: 82 x 95 x 6 in. (208.3 x 241.3 x 15.2 cm.) Figure VIII: 75 x 74 x 6 in. (190.5 x 188 x 91.4 cm.) Figure IX: 81 x 94 x 6 in. (205.7 x 238.8 x 15.2 cm.) Figure X: 92 x 85 x 6 in. (233.7 x 215.9 x 15.2 cm.) Figure XI: 106 x 76 x 5 in. (269.2 x 193 x 12.7 cm.) Figure XII: 96 x 75 x 7 in. (243.8 x 190.5 x 17.8 cm.) Figure XIII: 87 1/2 x 44 1/2 x 6 in. (222.3 x 113 x 15.2 cm.) Door I: 84 1/2 x 36 x 5 1/2 in. (214.6 x 91.4 x 14 cm.) Door II: 83 1/2 x 35 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (212.1 x 90.8 x 11.4 cm.) Mailbox Panel: 83 1/2 x 32 x 17 in. (212.1 x 81.3 x 43.2 cm.) This work was created circa 1983/1984. Fußnoten Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner Literature Ishai Goldstein, 'Up These Stairs, You Walk With Keith Haring ' in The New York Times, 28 January 2007, illustrated in color on The New York Times website (installation view) Stav Ziv, 'The Lost Keith Haring Mural in Manhattan,' in Newsweek Magazine, 15 September 2016, illustrated in color on Newsweek Magazine website (installation view) "My decision to come to New York and become a "public" artist was spurred by my desire to communicate and contribute to culture and eventually history." — Keith Haring Keith Haring (1958 – 1990) left a legacy which continues to shape and reverberate in contemporary culture. His deep commitment to social activism and public art is now being fully understood and appreciated as much as his artworks. Working at an incredible pace, in ten short years he changed the trajectory of Contemporary Art. During Haring's lifetime he had fifty solo shows and he painted forty-five murals across the globe. Today fewer than twenty are still standing and there are no murals located in the Middle East or Asia. The rarity of Haring's murals renders Untitled (The Church of the Ascension Grace House Mural) (circa 1983/1984) all the more significant, particularly as this is the first time a mural by the artist has ever come to auction. Incorporating his key iconography, a work of this magnitude and importance by the artist presents a singular occasion to acquire a masterwork by Haring. Haring's work is timeless, but it is very much rooted in Ronald Reagan's 1980s. Haring's work was born from his environment, politically and socially, placing the artist as one of the main protagonists. New York City in the 1980s was a hedonistic, boundary breaking, electric social mix of DJs, artists, graffiti writers, painters, performance artists, and dancers who all converged from the five boroughs in downtown New York, which was the epicenter of the Avant Garde. Much of his art contained messages about AIDS, crack cocaine, the environment and apartheid. He collaborated with his good friends Andy Warhol LA II, Kenny Scharf Madonna, Grace Jones, performer John Sex, the dancer Bill T Jones, and countless children around the world. The 1980s were an exceptionally creative time, one before the distractions of the internet and smart phones. Even now in the 21st Century, 1980s New York has been understood as an artistic Golden Age, one which produced creative titans who continue to shape society and the international art market. Coming from a formal art education, Haring was aware of past masters, and he was especially drawn to the work of Jean Dubuffet and Pierre Alechinsky Pop culture, specifically cartoon, and animated figures such as Mickey Mouse, were also highly important to his de