Chocolate Buddha 2
Chocolate Buddha 2
Signed Print
Keith Haring
£16,000-£24,000Value Indicator
$35,000-$50,000 Value Indicator
$29,000-$45,000 Value Indicator
¥150,000-¥230,000 Value Indicator
€18,000-€28,000 Value Indicator
$170,000-$250,000 Value Indicator
¥3,190,000-¥4,790,000 Value Indicator
$21,000-$30,000 Value Indicator
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56 x 70cm, Edition of 90, Lithograph
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Meaning & Analysis
This signed lithograph from 1989 is a limited edition of 90 from Keith Haring’s Chocolate Buddha series. Chocolate Buddha 2 shows an image of four figures, with their limbs intertwined to create a symmetrical pattern reminiscent of Aztec or Aboriginal art. Haring uses two tones of red in this print, the darker to outline the figures and the lighter to create stripes across the entire picture plane, emphasising the sense of pattern in the print.
The print has a compulsive quality that fills out across the canvas that contrasts to Haring’s typical use of simplified form and block colour. There is a flow to his use of line that works alongside the symmetrical composition whereby the eye follows the electric lines in harmony with the image. Haring’s use of thin, striped lines across the image creates a jarring effect against the thick, bold outlines of the figures, injecting the static image with a sense of movement.
Explaining why many of his works resemble Aztec or Aboriginal art, Haring has said ‘My drawings don’t try to imitate life; they try to create life, to invent life,’ something that he believed aligned with so-called primitive ideas. Chocolate Buddha 2 is exemplary of this notion by forming a rhythmic, all-over composition that focuses on symmetry rather than realism. Thus, Haring produces a kinetic image that excites the viewer and transcends reality.
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
