About this artwork
This black-and-white drawing consists of broad, linear elements that recall Asian calligraphic characters and pre-Columbian hieroglyphs. The outlines represent two human figures wading in a pool of water and grasping snakes. Keith Haring filled the empty white spaces with black squiggles, embedding the recognizable forms within a field of pattern and movement. Representative of his early work, this drawing exemplifies the artist’s developing language of simplified, archetypal imagery that he derived from ancient and non-European cultures, mass media, and popular culture.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Prints and Drawings
-
Artist
- Keith Haring
-
Title
- Untitled
-
Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
-
Date
- 1981
-
Medium
- Brush and black ink on white board
-
Dimensions
- 56.5 × 76.5 cm (22 1/4 × 30 1/8 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Gift of Lannan Foundation
-
Reference Number
- 1997.112
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.