Keith Haring, the renowned artist known for his vibrant and dynamic works, was presented with an Amiga personal computer by Timothy Leary in 1986. Leary was in the process of creating a video game adaptation of William Gibson’s influential novel Neuromancer. Recognizing Haring’s talent, Leary sought his collaboration to create visual elements for the game using the Amiga computer, a device that had been previously endorsed by Andy Warhol the year before.
Haring’s journey with technology began with some reservations, as he expressed concerns in his journal about the “coming machine aesthetic” in 1978. However, as the 1980s progressed, he became more comfortable exploring digital tools and was among the few artists experimenting with the early precursor to Photoshop called Quantel Paintbox. Although Leary’s project ultimately fell through, Haring continued to utilize the Amiga computer to create drawings in his distinct visual language. These digital works, characterized by his signature bold lines and energetic squiggles, showcased his figurative motifs in vibrant fluorescent hues, albeit with a pixelated quality. These drawings remained stored on floppy disks among Leary’s papers, hidden from public view until now. In his journal entry on July 8th, 1986, Keith Haring wrote “My drawings were perfect for translation into computers because the drawing line was already very close to the idea of “pixels” (the dots, or squares, that comprise a computer-generated image).”
From September 12 to 20, Christie’s is hosting an online auction titled “Keith Haring: Pixel Pioneer,” featuring five NFTs of Haring’s Amiga drawings, which have been minted on the Ethereum blockchain. The sale is a collaboration between Christie’s, licensing agency Artestar, and the Keith Haring Studio, a subsidiary of the Keith Haring Foundation. “The Amiga drawings hold significance as they were created during the early stages of the consumer computer age,” explained Gil Vazquez, executive director and president of the Keith Haring Foundation.
The estimated value of each NFT in “Pixel Pioneer” ranges from $200,000 to $500,000, with the entire collection valued at $1.65 million. These estimates are relatively conservative compared to Christie’s 2021 NFT auction of Amiga drawings by Andy Warhol, which sold for a total of $3.3 million.
Nicole Sales Giles, vice president and director of digital art sales at Christie’s, explained that Christie’s considered the traditional market for Haring’s prints and paintings, as well as the current digital market and the success of Warhol’s NFTs in 2021, to arrive at their conservative estimates. Gilles hopes that these price points will attract bidders despite the current volatility of the NFT market. The launch of Haring’s NFT collection amidst a uncertain NFT market holds promise for the artist’s supporters. The digital collecting community embraces the notion of merging traditional and online art collecting, a concept that aligns with Haring’s mission to make art accessible to all.
Sales Gilles expressed her belief that Keith Haring would have been a fervent supporter of the Web3 community, which seeks to bridge the gap between traditional and online art worlds. Haring’s reputation as an advocate for democratizing art makes his entry into Web3 particularly fitting.
“Keith Haring: Pixel Pioneer” is on display at Christie’s locations in Seoul, South Korea, from September 7 to 8, 2023, and in New York, USA, from September 14 to 19, 2023.
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