Auction: 13 days
As of May 28, 2026
HARING, KEITH
1958 Kutztown, PA/USA–1990 New York
Title: Dog.
Date: 1986.
Technique: Lithograph on rag paper.
Depiction Size: 110 x 82 cm.
Sheet Size: 116.5 x 89.5 cm.
Notation: Signed, dated and numbered.
Number: 39/40.
Frame: Framed. Examined out of the frame..
Provenance:
- - Private Collection Hesse
Literature:
- Littmann, Klaus (ed.): Keith Haring – Editions on Paper 1982–1990/Das Druckgraphische Werk, Ostfildern-Ruit 1997, p. 48ff (dated 1985 here)
- Sought-after, large-format print from the artist’s peak period
- Iconic motif within Haring’s visual language
- Striking example of his print work from the 1980s
Keith Haring developed, during the 1980s, a distinctive and iconographically reduced visual language that emerged from New York’s subcultural scene and achieved international recognition.
The lithograph Dog (1986) presents a large-scale black contour drawing on a white ground, condensing Haring’s characteristic visual vocabulary with exemplary clarity. The central, highly stylized figure of a dog is constructed entirely from a dense network of lines, symbols, and small-scale figures. The outer contour remains clear and self-contained, while the interior is animated by a multitude of rhythmically arranged motifs: dancing bodies, abstracted symbols, and pulsating lines distributed across the entire surface. The uniform, planar blackness of the line lends the composition a striking graphic impact and emphasizes the immediate legibility of the form.
The work derives its effect from the interplay between clear contour and internal density. The closed silhouette functions as an organizing framework within which a dynamic, almost overflowing visual world unfolds. Haring’s characteristic signs appear as universally legible elements that convey movement, energy, and communication. The dog motif belongs to the central iconography of his oeuvre and frequently signifies vigilance, authority, or social control. At the same time, the image remains open-ended and resists any singular interpretation.
Created in the mid-1980s, Dog ranks among the most compelling examples of Haring’s graphic work, in which he consistently translated his visual language into reproducible media. The limited edition underscores the work’s particular significance within his graphic oeuvre
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