Eine Zeichnung mit weißer Kreide auf schwarzem Papier zeigt eine längliche Figur, auf der die Zahl 85 steht. Anstatt einem Kopf sieht man einen dritten Arm, der eine kleine Figur festhält.

Keith Haring

Untitled (Subway Drawing), 1985

MaterialChalk on paper
Dimensions221 x 114.3 cm
Year of acquisition2018
Inventory numberUAB 1115
On viewCurrently not exhibited
Copyright© The Keith Haring Foundation. Photo: Haydar Koyupinar, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Museum Brandhorst, Munich

More about the artwork

Between 1980 and 1985, Keith Haring left about 5,000 of his white chalk drawings on the backgrounds of vacant advertising spaces in New York’s public underground system. With his quick and simple lines and straightforward drawings, Haring invited everybody to fill in the outlines with meaning. Accessibility and ubiquity popularized these works, despite their brief visibility before new ads covered them. Haring saw the “Subway Drawings” as creative “acts” that he performed for the public. But as his popularity grew, so did the commercial worth of his drawings, and collectors and gallerists recognized this, too. Much to Haring’s dismay, many “Subway Drawings” were soon dismounted and separated from public spaces. Converting Haring’s ephemeral acts of drawing into art objects and commodities, the art market’s mechanisms facilitated the entry of six “Subway Drawings” into the Brandhorst Collection.