Name: The Story Of Red And Blue 18
Brand: Keith Haring
Rating: 5 (231 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Keith Haring’s The Story Of Red And Blue 18 (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,450 and £3,650. This lithograph print, created in 1989, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 8%. This work has a strong auction history, having been sold 4 times at auction since its initial sale on 16th July 2013. In the last 12 months, the artwork has sold once, achieving an average selling price of £2,831. Over the past five years, the hammer price has remained consistent, with an average return to the seller of £2,406. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 90.

Auction Date

Auction House

Location

Hammer Price

Return to Seller

Buyer Paid

April 2024

Wright

United States

December 2017

Forum Auctions London

United Kingdom

June 2014

Karl & Faber

Germany

July 2013

Christie's New York

United States

Meaning & Analysis

Presented in the format of a children’s storybook, The Story Of Red And Blue 18 is a print from Keith Haring’s The Story Of Red And Blue series from 1989. This signed lithograph is a limited edition of 90.

Representative of Haring’s desire to create a visual language that appealed to both children and adults alike, the series is formed of a variety of simplified images reminiscent of children’s fictional characters. Throughout the series Haring limits his colour palette to bright red and blue and renders each image in his distinctive linear style with black rounded lines.

The Story Of Red And Blue 18 shows a comical image of a human-like rabbit, kneeling on the ground and waving. It’s face is outlined in thick, blue brushstrokes and the character has a bright red nose. Depicted through the use of simplistic shapes and bright, block colour, this print is a playful and appealing image that is reminiscent of a children’s storybook illustration.

Across the first half of the series, each print alternates in colour between red and blue and by this point in the series, the two colours appear together in the prints. In each print Haring uses simplified and generic pictograms to produce the effect of a children’s story book without a sensical storyline, where instead the story seems to focus abstractly on the colours red and blue.

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