This Untitled print is a 1986 Keith Haring masterpiece. Haring was an American artist who made his name in the Pop art genre. Philosophically, Haring held steadfast to the belief that art is for everyone and was inspired by “everyday” art from the time was a young child; his style has echoing elements of comic books, Dr. Seuss books, and Haring’s beloved graffiti scene of New York in the 1980s.

Through the integration of public art styles, Haring actively pursued the democratization of art and created transformational and transcendent art that connected with people cross-culturally. In between these familiar lines and bright colors exists Haring’s passion for activism, manifesting in his body of work in a visual vernacular that tackled issues supremely relevant to his time such as the AIDS epidemic, the rise of digital media, apartheid, and many others. These important issues gained a more accessible platform to affect change through Haring’s enthusiastic aesthetic approach.

Untitled sizzles with eerie fervor. As cheerful as the print’s color makes the content seem upon first look, Haring’s classic, bold lines sketch a less playful version of his signature figures and venture into violence and gore. In appearance, Untitled bears a resemblance to Haring’s earlier Ludo portfolio, which is also teeming with gestural movement markings and disembodied, monstrously imaginative creatures. Of his works, Untitled falls on the side of ambiguity, enticing the audience to piece together the shocking pieces of Keith Haring’s great puzzle and absorb the messages that he hid within it.