Keith Haring Untitled Etching 2 (Littman p.112) For Sale

Untitled is an etching created by the artist in 1989 from a small edition of 6. It can be seen as part of three etchings in small editions produced in the same year. This print deals with the theme of the crucifixion, a reoccurring theme in Haring’s work. However, the technique of etching as in the present work, offers a uniquely calligraphic form of the subject. 

Haring’s crucified figure lacks a human face. His body is covered in lines and shapes that recall the artist’s typical style, but tattooed on the body in this case, recall tribal art. The artist had already explored the head-to-toe painting of the body in the eighties in his collaborations with Bill T. Jones and Grace Jones. Thus the body in the lithograph can be seen as referential to the artist’s own work, but also treating the body as canvas is a way of highlighting, of literally ‘marking’ the person’s importance. Grace Jones was specifically for her unique essence and appearance. 

In the case of this work, it is likely that the crucified figure is taken in a religious context, as on the cross Haring writes ‘INRI’, the Latin acronym inscription for Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum, or Jesus Nazarenus, King of the Jews. Haring’s depiction of the crucifixion feels particularly emotive and expressive, as droplets of blood flow freely from Jesus’ arms, and crosses float in the air surrounding him.  

The artist’s combination of quasi-ethnographic style with that of Christian iconography is an impactful one. Haring was born and raised into a Christian family and so was very familiar with its teachings. Yet he would later distance himself from religion, turning towards universal social and political activism. Seen here, the influence of religious imagery is keenly felt, but it is truly Haring’s own.