A trove of unseen artworks by Keith Haring, one of the most iconic gay artists of all time, has been unveiled by a friend who is putting them up for auction.
The late artist is a world-renowned queer pop culture icon whose bold, unmistakable artwork style became a symbol of the art and activism scene in 1980s New York.
His work bridged street art and pop art, but also evokes the dark days of the AIDS crisis. Haring himself lost his life to AIDS-related complications in 1990.
This month, a longtime friend of the artist, Kermit Oswald, released a trove of rare Haring pieces from his personal collection.
Oswald’s collection, which also includes some pieces of furniture, are on display at Sotheby’s in New York City. Several of the pieces are expected to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars each at auction this month.
In a beautiful interview with The Guardian, Kermit Oswald recalled growing up with Keith in a small rural town in Pennsylvania, where they worked together as paperboys.
A mutual love of visual arts took both of them to New York in 1978. Haring studied at the School of Visual Arts, and Oswald built the workshop in Haring’s studio.
Oswald said he watched in awe as his friend’s work and style evolved, and the childhood influences he took with him.
“Keith was a paperboy. News headlines were always a big part of Keith’s life,” Oswald said.
“Works were untitled because he wanted you to see the date and look at the headlines from the New York Post or New York Times.”
Oswald’s first child was born in 1986, and he and his wife couldn’t afford a new cot. They ended up using Oswald’s own which his parents handed down to him.
“I got it and I painted it yellow, then Keith came over, we had a few beers, and he painted the rest of it,” Oswald said.
That cot, and a chest of drawers Haring also painted yellow to match, are now part of the Sotheby’s collection.
Oswald said he was the one who informed Haring’s parents that Keith was HIV-positive, at Keith’s request. The artist died at age 31 on February 16, 1990.
“I was with him the day before he died. He passed the day after my birthday, which still sometimes makes the day hard,” Oswald said.
For 40 years, Oswald has kept his collection of unseen Keith Haring artworks – including a rare self-portrait – to himself.
But Oswald said he was releasing them now because he “came to the realisation that my relationship with these works is experiential.”
“The work is just the physical result of it. I love the memory of being in the room when most of them were being done,” he said.
“As a society, we rarely have intimate contact with a great artist. Most of the time, we just have their work, and when you finally meet them, it’s disappointing.
“But Haring is the opposite. Knowing him better helps you understand his work. And I can tell you he was a generous person, a great man and a great friend.”
See the collection of rare Keith Haring artwork and find out more at the Sotheby’s website here.
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