Keith Haring, Untitled, 1984
03 December 2025
Keith Haring’s Untitled piece from 1984 is an intimate work that speaks directly to the artist’s enduring connection with his family at the very height of his career. The painting bears a double inscription on the reverse dedicating it to Haring’s grandparents, with a festive greeting signed and dated in New York: “FOR GRANDMA + GRANDPA DEC 29 1984 N.Y.C. MERRY CHRISTMAS + HAPPY NEW YEAR LOVE, KEITH 1984”. Originally gifted to them during the Christmas holiday, the work later passed to his mother, Joan Haring, and remained in the family home in Kutztown, Pennsylvania until 2025. It stands out not only as an example of Haring’s vibrant graphic style but also as a personal token of affection, marking the bond between the artist and his roots despite his flourishing fame in New York.
The composition displays many of the hallmarks of Haring’s visual language, with bold black outlines, energetic radiating lines, and the use of vibrant colour as a background. Two large figures dominate the canvas; their heads linked in an embrace that may be read as a symbolic representation of the grandparents to whom the work is dedicated. Beneath them is a crawling baby on which is inscribed the family surname, which can be interpreted as a stand-in for the artist himself, reinforcing the familial theme of the work. By weaving together personal symbols with his universal pictorial language, Haring created a painting that is both intimate in its dedication and iconic in its imagery.
1984 was a year of great productivity and recognition for Haring, who was then firmly established within the Downtown Arts Scene in New York and exhibiting internationally. Yet, even as he immersed himself in the city’s cultural life, he remained in close contact with his family, regularly sending letters, gifts and artworks back home. This inscribed canvas encapsulates that duality between the public artist and the private son and grandson. Unlike the large-scale murals and public interventions for which he became famous, the artwork carries the uniqueness of its provenance and inscription, transforming it into a one-of-a-kind work that transcends the boundaries between art object and personal keepsake.
In its fusion of bold graphic energy with tender dedication, this artwork reveals an often-overlooked dimension of Haring’s practice. It is a painting that embodies the artist’s desire to connect with those closest to him. This piece showcases Haring’s ability to ensure that even amid international acclaim, his roots remained central to his art.
This piece is exhibited in our current Miami exhibition, 'In Dialogue with Color: Mid-20th Century to Now', on view until 5 January 2026.
