Anti-Missile Demo Poster
Anti-Missile Demo Poster
Signed Print
Keith Haring
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Medium: Screenprint
Year: 1983
Size: H 64cm x W 49cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
TradingFloor
Track this artwork in realtime
Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection
Track auction value trend
Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2008 | Sotheby's New York | United States | |||
| November 1992 | Christie's New York | United States |
Meaning & Analysis
Anti-Missile Demo Poster is a signed screen print released in 1983 by pop artist, Keith Haring. Throughout his twelve-year career, Haring produced public murals, subway drawings, and politically engaged posters that cemented his role as a spokesperson for social equality and the importance of a collective action. One of the issues that came to the forefront of his socially resonant artworks was the danger of nuclear militarization.
As a politically committed artist, Haring produced posters for activist purposes and distributed them during public demonstrations free of charge. Alongside such works as Poster For Nuclear Disarmament, Anti-Missile Demo Poster represents Haring’s vehement and frequently declared opposition to America’s militarization.
Employing only black thick contours against the white background, the poster depicts a figure with a double pair of hands raised upwards. As one pair of hands covers part of the figure’s face, the gesture connotes the collective tendency to turn a blind eye to violence. Disproportionate in size to the rest of the body, another pair of hands upholds a missile that is seen floating freely in the air.
With USA written on its chest, the simplistically rendered human subject problematizes the politics of responsibility in relation to the society that witnessed a shift toward an increasing militarization in the 1980s.
Keith Haring was a luminary of the 1980s downtown New York scene. His distinctive visual language pioneered one-line Pop Art drawings and he has been famed for his colourful, playful imagery. Haring's iconic energetic motifs and figures were dedicated to influencing social change, and particularly challenging stigma around the AIDS epidemic. Haring also pushed for the accessibility of art by opening Pop Shops in New York and Japan, selling a range of ephemera starting from as little as 50 cents. Haring's legacy has been cemented in the art-activism scene and is a testament to power of art to inspire social change