Apocalypse 1
Apocalypse 1
Signed Print
Keith Haring
£8,500-£13,000Value
Indicator
$16,000-$25,000 Value Indicator
$14,500-$22,000 Value Indicator
¥80,000-¥120,000 Value Indicator
€10,000-€15,000 Value Indicator
$80,000-$130,000 Value Indicator
¥1,570,000-¥2,410,000 Value Indicator
$10,500-$16,000 Value Indicator
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren’t enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Screenprint
Format: Signed Print
Year: 1988
Size: H 97cm x W 97cm
Edition size: 90
Signed: Yes
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Track auction value trend
Keith Haring's Apocalypse 1 (signed), a screen print from 1988, is estimated to be worth between £9,000 and £13,500. This artwork has been sold 15 times at auction since its initial sale in February 2002. Over the past five-year period, the hammer price ranges from £5,505 in June 2021 to £10,079 in September 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 37%. In the last 12 months, the average selling price was £8,595, with a total sales volume of 2. The edition size of Apocalypse 1 is limited to 90.
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2023 | Sotheby's London - United Kingdom | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| March 2023 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| October 2022 | Venduehuis der Notarissen - Netherlands | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| April 2022 | Dorotheum, Vienna - Austria | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| March 2022 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| September 2021 | Sotheby's Online - United Kingdom | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print | |||
| June 2021 | Germann Auctions - Switzerland | Apocalypse 1 - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Apocalypse 1 is the first in a set of 10 coloured screen prints by Keith Haring that make up his compelling Apocalypse series (1988), and is a limited edition of 90. The print shows a large phallic mushroom cloud, rendered with a gestural stroke of red ink and dark free-forming lines. An amorphous mass of people surrounds and worships the exploding phallus whilst two ‘devil sperm’ float on either side.
Throughout Haring’s work, the mushroom cloud is a signifier of death and destruction alluding to the idea of the final apocalypse, as also seen in his Anti-Nuclear Rally poster (1982). Amidst the devastating effects of the AIDS crisis, Haring related the concept of nuclear holocaust to views held by the Jesus Movement on Revelation to forecast the end of the world. Haring directly correlates sexuality with death in his depiction of enormous horned sperm, a demoniacal personification of death in relation to sex, and by extension, the AIDS virus. The ‘devil sperm’ motif is repeated multiple times throughout the series.
Embedded in the print are two reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, defaced by Haring with black X’s over her eyes. The appropriation of this image integrates divergent subjects from contemporary culture and history, thus producing a jarring effect between the self-assured visual perfection of high art and rawness of Haring’s gestural marks. Haring’s visceral and uninhibited graffiti style, accentuated by the drip and splatter marks, makes clear his own bodily suffering due to AIDS and the anguish felt in relation to contemporary events.
