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Untitled

A work made of brush and black ink on white board.

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  • A work made of brush and black ink on white board.

Date:

September 27, 1981

Artist:

Keith Haring
American, 1958-1990

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  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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.

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