Keith Haring

1958 – 1989

Keith Allen Haring was an American artist and AIDS activist whose bold, graphic visual language emerged from New York City's downtown art and graffiti scenes in the early 1980s. From spontaneous chalk drawings on subway advertising panels to monumental murals around the world, his work made street art a recognized contemporary genre and addressed apartheid, the AIDS crisis, and the criminalization of drug use. He founded the Keith Haring Foundation in 1989 to support AIDS research and children's programs before dying of AIDS-related complications in 1990 at age 31.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM