Keith Haring, the people's artist

Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 - February 16, 1990) was a pre-eminent artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York street culture of the 1980s. He was greatly inspired by the graffiti art, and achieved his first public attention with his chalk drawings in the subways of New York. Haring's work put social issues at the forefront while celebrating love and the love of life. Haring was committed to making his art available to as wide an audience as possible. He painted antidrug messages on buildings and subways, and mass produced novelties that featured his ecstatic figures. To Haring, there was no difference between the drawings he did for free and the art he sold for thousands of dollars. Shortly before he succumbed to AIDS, he used his funds and notoriety to create the Keith Haring Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to provide assistance to other nonprofits through the sale of his work.