King Kong For A Day
Signed Mixed Media

Name: King Kong For A Day
Brand: Keith Haring
Rating: 5 (234 reviews)

Keith Haring

Price data unavailable

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.

Medium: Mixed Media

Year: 1989

Size: H 37cm x W 25cm

Signed: Yes

Format: Signed Mixed Media

Find out how Buying or Selling works.

Track this artwork in realtime

Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection

Track auction value trend

The value of Keith Haring's King Kong For A Day (signed) from 1989 is estimated to be worth between £8,500 and £13,000. This mixed media artwork has been sold 3 times at auction since its initial sale on 9th June 1999. There have been no sales in the last 12 months or the last five years. This is a rare artwork with an increasing value, and would make a valuable addition to any collection. The edition size of this artwork is not known.

Unlock up-to-the-minute market data on Keith Haring's King Kong For A Day, login or create a free account today

Auction Results

Auction Date	Auction House	Location
February 2004	Christie's New York	United States
January 2001	Christie's New York	United States
June 1999	Christie's New York	United States

Meaning & Analysis

Printed in 1989, King Kong For A Day is a signed Gelatin silver print by Keith Haring. The print depicts Haring himself standing in front of a poster advertising the Empire State Observatory. Haring jokes as he mimics the pose in the poster of a man standing on top of the Empire State Building, like King Kong did in the epic adventure romance film King Kong (1933). In the background, large prints from Haring’s Free South Africa series can be seen.

This photograph captures Haring in New York, the city in which Haring developed his artistic career and rose to fame. Born in Pennsylvania in 1958, Haring moved to New York in 1978 after dropping out of a commercial art school. Haring’s art was strongly influenced by his time at the School of Visual Arts in New York where he learned about semiotics from Joseph Kosuth, as well as the artists, musicians and graffiti artists that he encountered while living in the bustling city. It was in fact the New York subway where Haring really developed his artistic practice, experimenting with simple lines, which have become emblematic of his unique style.

King Kong For A Day differs from other Haring prints as it is a photograph. The image nevertheless captures Haring’s rise to fame. By the mid-80s he was exhibiting his work at international biennials, designed a billboard for Times Square and an advertising campaign for Absolut Vodka. This photograph was taken in 1989, a year before Haring sadly died.

Keith Haring was a luminary of the 1980s downtown New York scene. His distinctive visual language pioneered one-line Pop Art drawings and he has been famed for his colourful, playful imagery. Haring's iconic energetic motifs and figures were dedicated to influencing social change, and particularly challenging stigma around the AIDS epidemic. Haring also pushed for the accessibility of art by opening Pop Shops in New York and Japan, selling a range of ephemera starting from as little as 50 cents. Haring's legacy has been cemented in the art-activism scene and is a testament to power of art to inspire social change

Currency:

We connect buyers and sellers of original contemporary and modern prints, facilitating discreet, independent, investment led private sales. Fixed, clear and mutually agreed upon between both parties - simple, safe and secure.