ART IN TRANSIT
Signed first edition of this foundational work of street art from the pop art superstar.
Near fine.
Price: $5,000.00
ART IN TRANSIT
"Doing things in public was not a new idea. The climate of art in New York at that time was certainly moving in that direction. It seemed obvious to me when I saw the first empty subway panel that this was the perfect situation." — Keith Haring
Haring's subway drawings began around the dawn of the 1980s and arose from the artist's accidental observation that when advertising panels in subway stations were empty and waiting for new ads, they were covered with a matte black paper. Haring began carrying chalk wherever he went and dropped into stations throughout the city to draw on these panels. The work became immediately popular and recognizable: the radiant baby, the barking dog, the dancing humans, the flying saucers, and other various interlocking kinetic forms pulsing with energy. The style owed something to graffiti and street art, but also something to cartoons and even ancient pictograms. The MTA did not share Haring or the public's enthusiasm, however, and the artist was repeatedly arrested. By the time of his first gallery show in 1982, the subway drawings had trailed off considerably, but they were indispensable in defining not only Haring's style, but his approach: accessible, democratic. ART IN TRANSIT remains an important record of this decidedly ephemeral but important part of Haring's work and career.
The Object
First printing. New York: Harmony Books, (1984). Full title: Art In Transit, Subway Drawings by Keith Haring. 7.75'' x 8''. Original color photographic wrappers. $12.95 cover price. [96] pages. Signed by Haring with his trademark plus sign in silver marker to page after Haring's foreword showing the artist being arrested for "criminal mischief." Trace shelfwear. Overall bright and sharp.
The Fine Print
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