Keith Haring Value: Top Prices Paid at Auction

In May 2017, Untitled (1982) achieved over £5 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction, setting a new auction record for Haring. This piece embodies the quintessential elements of Haring’s style–street art aesthetics, cartoon figures, dogs, and a powerful political message. Inspired by the conflicts between governmental authority and youth culture, the work vividly portrays the struggle between good and evil, and life and death—themes that were deeply significant to Haring and fuelled his artistic vision throughout his career.

Reflecting Haring's deep involvement in the heyday of the New York Hip Hop scene, it’s unsurprising that this painting's provenance is primarily linked to New York auctions and East Coast collections. The work features one of Haring's iconic dancing figures in vibrant Day-Glo green against a vivid orange background. Created in 1982, this Untitled work sold at Christie's in 2022, achieving £4.9 million against a low estimate of £3.3 million.

Painted in 1988, the year Haring was diagnosed with AIDS, Silence = Death (1988) is now one of the artist’s most iconic works. Here, the pink triangle–a symbol of gay pride–is used to raise awareness of the epidemic tearing apart New York’s queer and artistic community. “I don’t know if I have five months or five years, but I know my days are numbered. This is why my activities and projects are so important now,” Haring said in 1987 about his activism. When the work sold at Christie’s in May 2019, it achieved a commendable £4.3 million.

Untitled depicts a dramatic clash between man, nature, and technology, with a computer held atop a pyramid like a deity surrounded by a chaotic scene of worshippers, UFOs, robots, and monsters. This painting epitomises his distinctive illustrative style and holds the distinction of being the first tangible artwork sold at a major auction house with the option of payment via cryptocurrency. It fetched £4.3 million at Christie’s in June 2021. Originally unveiled at Paul Maenz’s gallery in Cologne in 1984, Haring’s first solo exhibition in Germany, Maenz purchased it for his own collection, later describing Haring’s work as “magic.”

Widely regarded as Haring’s last great masterpiece, The Last Rainforest (1989) more than doubled its low estimate when it sold at Sotheby’s in June 2016 for £4.1 million, making it the second-highest lot of the sale. The painting emerged from the collection of renowned photographer David LaChapelle, who “fell in love with the painting” upon seeing it in 2001. LaChapelle noted that more than any other work by Haring, this piece conveys “a sense of his time running out, and he really wanted to say something… There is an urgency.” Haring completed this monumental work just four months before his passing.

Renowned for his charismatic presence on the New York art scene in the 1980s, Haring was celebrated not only for his activism during the AIDS crisis but also for his distinctive illustrative style. Untitled (Acrobats) (1982) exemplifies Haring's dynamic aesthetic, with its densely packed, ontorted figures, symbols, and hieroglyphic motifs covering the large monochrome canvas, captivating the viewer with its kinetic intensity. Untitled (Acrobats) achieved £4.1 million at Sotheby’s in December 2021.

Haring once described his painting process as being driven by “the idea of making the movements a kind of choreography–a kind of dance.” Untitled (1986) is a powerful example of his ability to capture this sense of movement, a hallmark of his style. The figures in this piece pulse with energy, their immaculate tessellation creating a composition that is lively yet harmonious. This Untitled work sold at Sotheby’s in May 2021 for £4.1 million.

Haring rarely created self-portraits throughout his career, hgihlighting this work as particularly rare and unique. It was a gift to his friend and art dealer, Tony Shafrazi, who played a key role in establishing Haring’s commercial success on the New York art scene. Self Portrait For Tony (1985) draws inspiration from other American Pop artists and contemporaries, with the use of Ben Day dots seen as a homage to Roy Lichtenstein, while the cropped framing of his face echoes the style of Andy Warhol's portraits. This rare work made its auction debut at Sotheby's in November 2016, nearly doubling its low estimate by selling for £3.6 million.

Sister Cities – For Tokyo (1985) was created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between New York City and Tokyo. Haring first visited Tokyo in 1983 and returned frequently throughout the 1980s. In this piece, he symbolises the two cities as his iconic dancing figures, united under a single heart. After completing the painting, Haring gifted it to Tokyo City Hall. Three decades and three owners later, it was offered at Sotheby’s in November 2018, where it sold for £3.4 million.

One of the top lots at Phillips’ London 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in February 2020, Untitled (1981) had remained in the same private collection since 1982, just a year after its creation. A tour-de-force from the early days of Haring's career, the piece captures a dreamlike moment with two figures in mid-movement. Haring once said of his practice, “When I paint, it is an experience that, at its best, transcends reality... you completely go into another place, beyond your ego and your own self. That’s what it’s all about.” This work sold for £3.2 million and ranks among Haring's top-selling pieces.