Keith Haring Subway Graffiti, ca. 1980
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GUEST:
I inherited it from my deceased partner. That was about 20 years ago. And when he lived in New York, he was in the subway with one of his friends telling him about Keith Haring. And this was all relatively new, I guess, in the early '80s. He was telling him about it, and he said, "You know what? I'm gonna take that for posterity's sake," and whipped out his little pocketknife, and cut it out. And it was already torn a little bit up there.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
And I didn't know anything about it at the time. I've since learned about him, and that in the subways, this black paper was put up in between ad space. He got this idea of using chalk on this, and started doing, I guess it's graffiti.
APPRAISER:
Keith Haring was such an interesting character who died much too young in 1990. He was born in Pennsylvania and came to New York City in 1978. New York embraced him and he embraced them. He was a superstar very early on, but along with that title, he was also very much of an artist of the people, and believed that art should belong to everyone. He was influenced by the graffiti movement and just thought it was great. He thought that people on the subways should enjoy the performance of him being there, and that it just should be a joyous art experience. Not in the museums or the galleries, but just everywhere. And the idea that he would go down to the subways, and paint over these pieces, people would come up and say, "What do they mean?" It was a happening. That's what he absolutely loved about it. He did these subway drawings primarily between 1980 and 1985, when he was already becoming famous. So your partner wasn't alone in tearing these off the subway walls.
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
Haring was very prolific with them. Sometimes he would do 40 a day. There, there were hundreds of them. I mean, it was just this joyful underground movement of contemporary, interesting, energized art. And really at the forefront of graffiti art and street art. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988 and began his foundation then, and the foundation was to promote art and also to promote the work of children, and also to help with AIDS issues.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So he wasn't long with us, but he, he left doing some pretty remarkable things.
GUEST:
That's interesting, the connection, because my partner died of AIDS 20 years ago.
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
So it's, uh... It's something that I'll always keep and have, and that connection.
APPRAISER:
Well... It's a lovely piece, in, in good condition, and framed under glass. At auction, I would estimate it between $30,000 and $50,000.
GUEST:
You're kidding!
APPRAISER:
No. (laughs)
GUEST:
Oh, my God. (laughing): Oh, my!
APPRAISER:
Yes, they're very rare now.
GUEST:
Wow. They're important. And for insurance, probably around $50,000.
GUEST:
(laughing): Oh, my God!
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