Modern and Contemporary Art

In his playful drawings, Keith Haring returned to signature symbols and motifs again and again – the radiant baby, barking dogs, dancing figures and UFOs beaming down to earth – often in service of messages with deeper social or political aims. The present composition incorporates several of these motifs. The other-worldly quality of the central UFOs may indicate a feeling of alienation or “otherness,” a sense of not belonging to mainstream culture, at a time when the AIDS crisis was at a peak in the 1980s. The barking dog has been supposed to stand in for authoritative power or other systems of oppression, while Haring called the baby “the purest and most positive experience of human existence.” Altogether, the drawing may not stand for one specific meaning, but rather engage the viewer's imagination and encourage them to think about the message.Untitled, 1982 comes from the collection of Thomas Lewis, former art history professor at Kutztown University. It bears an inscription on the back indicating it may have been part of a group exhibition at the Fun Gallery in New York that same year, a gallery started by Patti Astor to display work by graffiti and street artists. Haring had already had his first one-artist show at Tony Shafrazi’s gallery when Astor’s gallery opened, but he wanted to support his fellow artists and the founding of a space to display the work he cared for deeply.For more information about Haring’s career and his connection to Kutztown, please see lot 33.