The Valley Page 1
The Valley Page 1
Signed Print
Keith Haring
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36 x 30cm, Edition of 80, Etching
Medium: Etching
Edition size: 80
Year: 1989
Size: H 36cm x W 30cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: April 2025
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Meaning & Analysis
This signed etching from 1989 is a limited edition of 80 from Keith Haring’s The Valley series. The first in a group of etchings made in collaboration with the beat poet William S. Burroughs, The Valley Page 1 shows a hectic line drawing of a woman giving birth and two figures standing on either side. Marking a new direction in the artist’s visual language, this print is violent in its energy and conveys themes around death and tragedy, depicting the child that is to be killed.
For this series, Burroughs copied the text by hand on sixteen sheets of tracing paper, which were photo-etched onto copper plates and printed in red ink. The text which is also titled, The Valley, is a chapter from the author’s novel, The Western Lands from 1987.
Much like Haring’s Apocalypse series (1988), this series introduces stylistic and thematic shifts in the artist’s style, depicting characters and narratives that are indicative of the artist’s preoccupation with the end of life. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, The Valley Page 1 is representative of the way in which Haring’s work and activism became intensely embroiled in his personal life and the socio-political context of the AIDS epidemic in New York City.
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
