Untitled
Medium: Lacquered steel
Year: 1987-1988
Dimensions: 57 1/2 x 51 x 50 1/8 inches (146.1 x 129.5 x 127.3 cm)
Edition: 3
Keith Haring’s Untitled (1987-1988), a dynamic, playful example of his steel sculpture, finds the artist exploring the human body and its schematic possibilities. While Haring’s famously planar, two-dimensional work offers little in the way of visual depth, sculpture allowed the artist to explore the contours of his visual style within an expanded field.
Incorporating elements of dance and combat, Untitled highlights Haring’s knack for contextual ambiguity and subtle provocativeness. Two figures stand on a black base—the yellow figure puts his head down and drives it through an opening in the white figure’s midsection. Arms outstretched, the yellow figure bursts forth, his neck and head emerging on the other side. As if in shock, the white figure raises his arms and tilts his head downward to watch his spearing; his body appears to accept this action, as if it is part of some poetically choreographed dance.
Auction Results
Christie’s New-York: 5 March 2020
Estimated: USD 300,000 – 500,000
USD 435,000
KEITH HARING (1958-1990)
Untitled, 1987-1988
Lacquered steel
This work is from an edition of three
Registered with The Estate of Keith Haring under identification number 062195A12