"Lucky Strike" is from a portfolio of five silkscreen prints created by the artist in 1987, Commissioned by the American tobacco company for advertisements. The series showcases Haring’s vibrant and playful style while demonstrating his recognition of the enormous potential of his work for a mass audience.
The tone of the print, in keeping with much of the pop artist’s work, is characterised by joyous feeling and movement. Figures are never static and leap, dance and wave out of the bounds of Haring’s pictures. Though two-dimensional and seemingly simple in expression, what is striking about the portfolio is the viewer can almost hear and imagine the excitement of the faceless and sexless characters. Haring is able to invoke the power of imagination through the simplest expressions of line and colour.
Lucky Strike highlights Haring’s unique visual style that would see the artist become a mainstay of private collectors, auction houses, galleries and museums worldwide.