Fair Warning Auctions Keith Haring Subway Drawing For Up To $900,000

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Fair Warning, the auction house known for its unconventional sales, is set to offer a significant Keith Haring subway drawing from 1984, with an estimate ranging from $700,000 to $900,000. The untitled chalk-on-black-paper work, measuring 80 by 40 inches, depicts a towering skeleton with clocks for eyes, surrounded by Haring's signature dancing figures. The auction will take place on October 1.

These subway drawings were famously created by the artist on blank advertising panels throughout the New York City subway system in the early 1980s. The artwork boasts robust provenance, particularly for a series intended to be ephemeral. According to Fair Warning, it was held in a private New York collection and subsequently by Martos Gallery before entering a private collection in Los Angeles, where the current owner acquired it. The piece has been exhibited at Martos Gallery in New York in 2005 and at the Fondazione Triennale di Milano in 2005–06, and is also cataloged by the Keith Haring Foundation.

Haring initiated these drawings after observing the matte black paper used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to cover vacant ad spaces. Armed with white chalk, he rapidly created these public artworks as commuters passed. Haring once explained:“The whole beauty of the drawings is that they were so simple. They told a story that you could see from a moving train and you could get it.” Fair Warning founder Loïc Gouzer expressed his enthusiasm for the sale to ARTnews, stating:“It's the numero uno Subway drawing, one I've been trying to get for years and we finally got it!”

This sale marks another distinctive event for Fair Warning, following its inaugural vintage couture auction just last week. That sale, titled“The Impossible Couture Collection,” was curated by Gouzer and Peter Brant Jr., held at Brant Jr.'s Upper East Side carriage house. An Alexander McQueen ensemble from Naomi Campbell's personal collection led the 23-lot auction, selling for $1.3 million against a presale estimate of $600,000 to $1 million. This ensemble, from McQueen's Spring/Summer 2010“Plato's Atlantis” collection, was his final collection before his death in February 2010. It included a bodice, skirt, and custom-reissued Armadillo boots worn by Campbell at Fashion for Relief in 2010. The couture auction achieved a“white-glove” result, with all 23 lots selling for a total hammer price of $3.2 million.

Other highlights from the couture sale included a Sarah Burton-designed black-and-gold“Bee's” ensemble, which hammered for $60,000. A 1965–66 Yves Saint Laurent cocktail dress, inspired by Piet Mondrian's paintings and possibly once belonging to the Belgian royal family, sold for $600,000, exceeding its $500,000 high estimate. Celebrity provenance also boosted prices, with a midnight-colored Azzedine Alaïa evening gown previously worn by Rihanna hammering for $140,000. A sequined John Galliano dress worn by Madonna in her 1994“Take a Bow” music video and by Kylie Jenner at the 2025 BAFTA Awards fetched $110,000. Gouzer suggested that prices for historically significant fashion have substantial room for growth compared to fine art, telling Artnet News after the sale:“I think people are going to be astonished by these prices. They seem big for fashion, but then you compare it to art and this is clearly just the beginning.”

Source: ARTnews

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