Sheet: 30.5 x 38.1 cms
12 x 15 in.
Frame: 51.2 x 58.6 cm
20 x 23 in.

Edition of 200, plus proofs

(10044) Pop Shop I (1987) is a vibrant suite of four silkscreen prints by Keith Haring, featuring his iconic dancing figures rendered in a striking palette of turquoise, red, yellow, purple, and black. Produced in editions of 200, this suite was the first of six Pop Shop series created during Haring’s lifetime. The title derives from Haring’s Pop Shop retail stores, which he opened in 1986 with the aim of making his art accessible to a broader audience beyond traditional collectors.

Driven by a desire to bring art into everyday life, Haring envisioned the Pop Shop as a welcoming space for everyone, famously stating that he wanted “not only collectors” but also “kids from the Bronx” to engage with his work. This lively composition appears to depict a family group: a mother, father, and child, joyfully leaping together. Filled with energy, movement, and affection, the work embodies Haring’s playful visual language and celebration of human connection.

Original screenprint in colours, executed in 1987 on Coventry Rag paper, printed in turquoise, red, yellow, purple and black, signed by the artist in pencil. Published by Martin Lawrence Editions, Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York

Executed in 1987, Pop Shop I (Plate 2) dates from a significant period in Keith Haring’s career, one year after he opened his first Pop Shop in Manhattan. Forming part of the four-print Pop Shop I portfolio, the first of six Pop Shop series created during Haring’s lifetime, the work reflects his commitment to making art accessible beyond the traditional gallery system.

In this vibrant screenprint, three interlocking figures are rendered in bold areas of turquoise, red, yellow, purple and black. Their raised arms and bent legs suggest a family group—a mother, father and child—joyfully leaping together. Thick black outlines define the simplified forms, while radiating marks convey movement and affection, lending the compact composition an energetic sense of unity.

Haring developed his distinctive visual language through the chalk drawings he created in unused advertising panels across New York’s subway stations during the early 1980s. Drawing upon graffiti, cartoons and public signage, he established a vocabulary of highly legible figures through which he explored love, community and human connection. The Pop Shop, opened in 1986, extended this democratic approach by offering prints, clothing and other affordable objects to audiences beyond established collectors.

In Pop Shop I (Plate 2), the boundaries between fine art, commercial design and everyday imagery are deliberately dissolved. The apparent family group embodies the optimism and inclusivity central to Haring’s practice, presenting human connection as a source of collective energy and joy. Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, New York, and published by Martin Lawrence Editions, the work is signed and numbered in pencil lower right from the edition of 200, plus proofs, and is presented framed. A detailed condition report is available upon request.