An in-depth examination of the life and work of Keith Haring.

Birth name : Keith Haring
Born : May 4, 1958 Reading, Pennsylvania
Died : February 16, 1990 (aged 31), New York City, New York, NationalityUSA
Field : Pop art, graffiti art
Training : The Ivy School of Professional Art (Pittsburgh), School of Visual Arts (New York)
Influenced by: Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, Allen Haring (his father), William S. Burroughs, Pierre Alechinsky


Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 - February 16, 1990) was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.

Early life :
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Haring grew up in Kutztown with his mother, Joan Haring, and his father, Allen Haring, a cartoonist. He also had three younger sisters, Kay, Karen and Kristen. Keith's parents wanted to name all their children with names that started with K. Haring was interested in art from an early age. From 1976 to 1978 he studied commercial art at The Ivy School of Professional Art, an art school in Pittsburgh. He soon lost interest in commercial art, and moved on to study Fine Arts.
At age 19, in 1978, Haring moved to New York City, where he was inspired by graffiti art, and studied at the School of Visual Arts.

Career
Haring achieved his first public attention with chalk drawings in the subways of New York (see public art). These were his .