Keith Haring, 1958–1990: A Life for Art

By the time of his death from AIDS at the age of 31, Keith Haring (1958–1990) was already a wildly successful and popular artist. Haring's original and instantly recognizable style, full of thick black lines, bold colors, and graffiti‑inspired cartoon‑like figures, won him the appreciation of both the art world and the general public; his work appeared simultaneously on T‑shirts, gallery walls, and public murals. In 1986, Haring founded Pop Shop, a boutique in New York's SoHo selling Haring‑designed memorabilia, to benefit charities and help bring his work closer to the public and especially street kids, with whom he never lost contact.