Haring

Keith Haring was born on May 4, 1958, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Allen and Joan Gruen, the eldest of four children. His family moved to Kutztown a few years after his birth, where he spent most of his childhood; from a young age, he showed a strong inclination towards drawing, openly encouraged by his father Allen, who had early on sensed his son's artistic inclinations and talent. It was the characters from comics like those of Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss that had a lasting influence on him. However, as a teenager, Haring exhibited a fiery temperament: he was impatient with restrictions and often indulged in drugs and alcohol with friends. Despite this, he continued to pursue his passion for drawing; a decisive moment in this regard was his visit to the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., where Andy Warhol's graphic production was on display. After finishing high school in 1976, Haring enrolled at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, where - persuaded by his parents - he began attending classes in advertising graphics. Soon, however, young Keith realized this was not his path and dropped out after two semesters; leaving regular studies behind, he faced a period of dire poverty and temporary jobs. The flexible hours of these jobs (notably that of a cook in a cafeteria, where he first exhibited his drawings) allowed him to engage in extensive reading: indeed, during these years, Haring devoured monographs on Jean Dubuffet, Stuart Davis, Jackson Pollock, Paul Klee, Alfonso Ossorio, and Mark Tobey. In 1977, he came into contact with an artist who stirred great emotion in him and gave him the "new push and confidence" needed to pursue his vocation: Pierre Alechinsky, who was the subject of an exhibition at the Pittsburgh Art Museum that year. Just a year later, Haring, armed with his diverse knowledge in the field of art, organized his first solo exhibition, which was a great success. In 1979, he befriended an emerging artist from Brooklyn: Jean-Michel Basquiat, with whom he remained friends until Basquiat's death two years before his own.