Flowers, a portfolio of five prints created by Keith Haring in 1990, just months before his death, is a complex meditation on life, death, sexuality, and regeneration in the context of the AIDS epidemic.

 

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Introduction

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The Flowers series consists of five large-scale screenprints, each featuring a central, highly stylized floral motif rendered in Haring’s distinct bold lines and vibrant colors. The forms are a hybrid of playful, cartoonish figures and abstract shapes, some explicitly phallic in nature. The prints incorporate a visceral, painterly quality, with intentional drip lines and color splatters that lend a sense of urgency and expressionism, a departure from his usual clean, solid blocks of color. The bright pastel colors contrast with the dark outlines and the serious underlying themes.

This series subverts the traditional art historical subject of the still life (vanitas painting), which typically symbolizes the fleetingness of life. Haring’s interpretation is deeply personal and layered with symbolism related to his own AIDS diagnosis. The blooming and wilting flowers represent the cycle of vitality and inevitable decay. In some prints, a figure appears to be plucking a flower, alluding to the premature end of life. The phallic shapes directly reference the gay community and the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, challenging public miscomprehension and alluding to the physical and mental pain of the disease. Despite the themes of mortality, the overall message is one of continuity and rebirth. The vibrant energy lines and cyclical nature of the imagery suggest that life, and art, can live on in new forms.

The Flowers portfolio was created and released in 1990, the final year of Haring’s life. By this time, Haring was openly living with AIDS and was aware his time was limited. Rather than cease work, he accelerated his production, using his art to build his legacy and raise awareness about the epidemic. Completed only a few short months before his untimely tragic death in 1990, Keith Haring’s Flowers are vibrant prints that are rendered in his recognizably distinct pop-graffiti style. Throughout the set of fives works, Haring illustrates a variety of fluid, and rhythmic shapes resembling plant forms and their ultimate growth, with a visceral, painterly quality. Heavily inspired by his contemporaries Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning from the abstract Expressionist movement of the ‘40s and ‘50s, Haring learned to incorporate the gestural movements into his Flowers . While creating works, he would use the screen print ink and would allow them to drip down the image, creating thin, brightly colored streaks and splatters that are visually striking when placed against the dark, bold outlines his works almost all typically have.

The Flowers series is a significant part of Haring’s legacy, showcasing his ability to blend playful pop iconography with profound, emotionally charged subject matter. It is a testament to his courage in confronting mortality with clarity and compassion and his belief in art’s power to transcend barriers. All prints from the series demonstrate dense, rhythmic lines and the screen print ink has been allowed to drip down the image, forming thin streaks of color that stand out against the solid black outlines. The drip lines and splatter marks were intentionally left by Haring as an expression of his bodily suffering, whilst also to acknowledge the legacy of figures like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning from the Abstract Expressionist movement.

 

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Flowers, 1990

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Flowers

The complete set of five screenprints in colors
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Coventry Paper
Year: 1990
Sheet: 39 1/4 x 50 7/8 inches (99.7 x 129.2 cm)
Edition: 100
Artist’s Proofs: 15 AP
Publisher: Tony Shafrazi Editions Inc., New-York
Literature: Littmann pp. 164-167

Each signed, dated and numbered in pencil, with the publisher’s blindstamp

1. Flowers I (Littmann p. 165)

2. Flowers II (Littmann p. 166)

3. Flowers III (Littmann p. 166)

4. Flowers IV (Littmann p. 167)

5. Flowers V (Littmann p. 167)

 

 

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2025 Auction Results

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Flowers I-V (L. 164-167), 1990

Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 215,900
COMPLETE SET

KEITH HARING (1958 – 1990)
Flowers, 1990
The complete set of five screen-prints in colors on Coventry paper
With the colophon, contained in the original green folio case
Each signed in pencil, dated and numbered 57/100
This set is number 57 from the edition of 100 plus 15 artist’s proofs
Each with the blindstamp of the publisher, Shafrazi Editions.

Flowers IV (L. 167), 1990

Bonhams London: 18 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 12,000 – 18,000
GBP 30,720 / USD 37,645

KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
Flowers 4, from Flowers 1-5, 1990
Screenprint in colors
Signed, dated and inscribed ‘AP 8/15’ in pencil
An artist’s proof aside from the edition of 100

 

 

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Flowers I (L. 165)

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Flowers II (L. 166)

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Sotheby’s London: 21 April 2016
Estimated: GBP 5,000 – 7,000
GBP 8,750 / USD 12,625

KEITH HARING
Flowers II (Littmann p.166), 1990
Color screenprint on wove paper
Signed, dated 90, and numbered 88/100 

Freeman’s Hindman: 26 September 2025
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 38,400

KEITH HARING (American, 1958-1990)
Flowers Yellow (Littmann p. 166), 1990
Screenprint
Signed, dated, and numbered 77/100 in pencil

Phillips London: 10 September 2020
Estimated: GBP 10,000 – 15,000
GBP 20,000 / USD 25,615

Bonhams London: 18 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 12,000 – 18,000
GBP 30,720 / USD 37,645

KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
Flowers 4, from Flowers 1-5, 1990
Screenprint in colors
Signed, dated and inscribed ‘AP 8/15’ in pencil
An artist’s proof aside from the edition of 100

Van Ham: 30 November 2022
Estimated: EUR 20,000
EUR 25,080 / USD 25,885

KEITH HARING (1958–1990)
Flowers #5, 1990
Screen-print in colors on paper
Signed, dated and numbered 34/100

Christie’s New-York: 14 May 2020
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 18,750

KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
Flowers 5, from Flowers 1-5, 1990
Screen-print in colors on Coventry paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 69/100

 

 

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Complete Sets

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Keith & Tony: Works from the Tony Shafrazi Collection
Sotheby’s New-York: 16 May 2025
Estimated: USD 120,000 – 180,000
USD 215,900

KEITH HARING (1958 – 1990)
Flowers (Littmann pp. 164-167), 1990
The complete set of 5 screenprints in colors on Coventry paper
Accompanied by the title page and original portfolio case
Each sheet: 36×50 inches (91.5 x 127 cm)
Signed, dated ’90 and numbered 100/100 (lower right of each)
This set is number 100 from the edition of 100 plus 15 artist proof sets
Each with the blindstamp of the publisher, Shafrazi Editions

Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 215,900
COMPLETE SET

KEITH HARING (1958 – 1990)
Flowers, 1990
The complete set of five screen-prints in colors on Coventry paper
With the colophon, contained in the original green folio case
Each signed in pencil, dated and numbered 57/100
This set is number 57 from the edition of 100 plus 15 artist’s proofs
Each with the blindstamp of the publisher, Shafrazi Editions.

Phillips New-York: 22 April 2021
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 138,600

KEITH HARING
Flowers, 1990
The complete set of five screen-prints in colors
All signed, dated and numbered 80/100 in pencil

Christie’s New-York: 25 October 2018
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 81,250

KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
Flowers 1-5, 1990
The complete set of five screen-prints in colors on Coventry paper
Each signed, dated and numbered ‘AP 7/15’
An artist’s proof, the edition was 100