Three Lithographs 3
Three Lithographs 3
Signed Print
Keith Haring
POA
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Lithograph, 1985
Signed Print Edition of 80
H 96cm x W 77cm
Critical Review
This lithograph on wove paper from 1985 is a limited edition of 80 from Keith Haring’s Three Lithographs series. Three Lithographs 3 shows 12 of Haring’s signature stick figures in a symmetrical linear composition depicted in black, white and red. Much like Haring’s iconic ‘People Ladder’ motif used in his Growing series (1988), two sets of six figures are stacked upon one another’s shoulders, both facing inwards in opposing directions.
The ‘People Ladder’ motif in Haring’s work has come to represent a tower of break dancers stacked on top of one another to convey a sense of joy and community in a way that reflected the artist’s love of hip hop emerging in New York City in the 1980s. Haring’s use of action lines on either side of the towers and over the heads of the two top figures works to create a sense of excitement in the print and also signifies the figures’ struggle to balance.
Three Lithographs 3 is an example of the way that Haring often depicted groups of figures in interconnected compositions to underline the idea that working together and forming community can be more powerful than working alone. Haring’s use of lithography as a method of printing worked to maintain the crisp edges and opaque sections of colour that make up his signature style, due to lithography’s capacity to produce exceptional detail across hundreds of multiples.
