Untitled (Subway Drawing)
Information about the artwork
- Year1983
- MaterialChalk on paper, poster in original subway frame made of glass fiber reinforced plastic
- Dimensions124 x 172.5 cm
- Year of acquisition2012
- Inventory numberUAB 784
- On viewLower level
- Copyright© The Keith Haring Foundation. Photo: Haydar Koyupinar, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, 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.
