£26,000-£40,000Value Indicator
$50,000-$80,000 Value Indicator
$45,000-$70,000 Value Indicator
¥240,000-¥370,000 Value Indicator
€30,000-€50,000 Value Indicator
$250,000-$390,000 Value Indicator
¥4,980,000-¥7,660,000 Value Indicator
$35,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
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Medium: Lithograph
Edition size: 50
Year: 1982
Size: H 54cm x W 73cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 2024 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
October 2021 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
July 2015 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
May 2014 | Sotheby's New York | United States |
This signed lithograph from 1982 is a limited edition of 50 by Keith Haring. USA shows a central figure, characteristic of Haring’s iconic style, depicted in bright red with a hole in its stomach. The figure sits on the top of a set of dotted steps and a two headed snake writhes through the hole in the figure’s stomach.
This print brings together a set of symbols that are frequently used throughout Haring’s oeuvre. Notably the dotted steps connote the otherness of homosexuality and illness. Moreover, since the brutal murder of John Lennon, shot to death in 1980, Haring became obsessed with creating images of figures with holes in their stomachs as a means to express the emptiness of grief. Haring developed this motif to create images that represent the violence inflicted on the bodies of marginalised people.
USA is indicative of the way in which Haring conveys complex ideas whilst maintaining a simplicity in line and form that appeals to a wide audience. In his use of simplified form and recognisable symbols throughout his work, Haring produces a true public art that communicates clear-cut narrative views on socio-political injustices of the time. Just as his good friend Jean-Michel Basquiat had done before him, Haring used his unique graffiti style to erode boundaries between the public and the world of high art.
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