Name: Stones 5
Brand: Keith Haring
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Meaning & Analysis

This signed lithograph from 1989 is a limited edition of 60 from Keith Haring’s Stones series. Stones 5 shows an image densely filled with figures dancing and crawling across the frame. This print is a striking example of the Pop artist’s ability to create complex images while maintaining the simplicity of line he is known for.

Produced as lithographs just one year before the artist passed away from AIDS-related complications, the works in this series are reminiscent of Haring’s early subway drawings which earned him both notoriety and acclaim. Stones 5 inverts Haring’s characteristic bold black lines to white to create an elaborate all-over composition that shows the unusually formed figures mingling with one another.

Printed in 1989, the Stones portfolio was made at the very end of Haring’s short life, during a time when he was producing ever more inventive and daring work in large quantities as a result of being tested positive for HIV in 1988. Though Haring spent much of the mid to late ’80s working with silk screens, this move back to lithography shows his complete mastery of print as a medium. Haring produced large editions throughout his career, but each is characterised by the careful precision and vibrancy of the one that comes before it, demonstrating his dedication to the process.