Executed in 1989, Keith Haring’s unadorned self-portrait offers a candid impression of the artist in his final years and provides an enduring representation of his life, his work, and his iconic style. Outfitted with his trademark glasses and short curly hair, Haring’s true-to-life image is poised and unashamed, staring straight at his audience with a subtle smirk, exposed on the blank page. Through his own hand, without any influence or distraction, Haring presents an open and eloquent caricature of himself, the way he wishes to be remembered.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) gained international acclaim as not only a street artist and social activist but a major contributor to the Pop Art Movement. At the age of 19, Haring moved from his small hometown in Pennsylvania to New York City in order to attend the School of Visual Arts. The bustling city offered him the opportunity to experiment with street art, as is evidenced by his early chalk drawings throughout the underground subway system. Haring is known for his relationship to street culture of New York City throughout the 1980s, clearly reflected in his art along with consistent social undertones of life, unity, love, war, and sex. The bold lines, vivid colors, and active figures present in his drawings, paintings, and prints make a Haring work almost immediately identifiable. His iconic works have been displayed in institutions throughout the world, most recently in a major retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, NY (2012). Haring has also been the subject of significant solo exhibitions at Pace Prints Chelsea, New York, NY (2012; Galeria de Art del Centro de Extension de la Pontifica Universidad Catholica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (2012); Chiesa di San Francesco, Udine, Italy (2012); Musee en Herbe, Paris, France (2011); and Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY (2011).

Selected Public Collections:

The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA)
The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY)
Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France)
Ludwig Museum (Cologne, Germany)
Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Geneva, Switzerland)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Jerusalem, Israel)
Museum of Modern Art (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima, Japan)
Nakamura Keith Haring Collection (Kobuchizawa, Japan)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney, Australia)