NEW YORK, Sept 1 — Sotheby’s has teamed up with the Keith Haring Foundation for an exclusive online sale dedicated to the famous American street artist, who passed away in 1990 at the age of 31 following a battle with AIDS.
The sale, Dear Keith: Works from the Personal Collection of Keith Haring, will feature more than 140 works of art and artifacts of all kinds from Keith Haring’s personal collection, and estimations expect the sale to raise nearly US$1 million (RM4.15 million) for the New York charity The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Centre.
Described by Sotheby’s as “remarkably autobiographical,” the collection includes many masterpieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Tseng Kwong Chi, Stefano Castronovo, Samantha McEwen, Kermit Oswald and Bruno Schmidt.
Most of them frequented the famous New York night spot Club 57, where Keith Haring often went in the late 1970s, organising exhibitions with the works of his friends and other artists.
Among the most coveted lots in the sale is a colourful portrait of Keith Haring and his companion and DJ, Juan DuBose, by Andy Warhol. The painting is estimated at between US$200,000 and US$250,000.
Art lovers will also be able to purchase works by George Condo and Kenny Scharf, two close friends of Keith Haring whose creations are estimated to reach up to US$18,000 and US$25,000 at Sotheby’s.
Roy Lichtenstein will also make a notable appearance in the Dear Keith sale with Forms in Space, a 1985 print that Keith Haring had hung above the fireplace in his New York apartment — estimated to fetch up to US$70,000.
“Dear Keith spotlights the diverse community of artists whose unique visions inspired Keith throughout his life,” outlined Harrison Tenzer, Head of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Online Sales in New York.
Dear Keith will be held on Sotheby’s official website between September 24 and October 1. Would-be buyers will be able to view works from Keith Haring’s personal collection at Sotheby’s New York from September 26 to 30. — AFP-Relaxnews
