The significance of Keith Haring’s art was his ability to take cartooning and turn it into fine art. Along the way, he invented a series of potent symbols, including crawling babies and barking dogs — many of which found their way into his Subway Drawings. Many art historians and critics consider the Subway Drawings to be Keith Haring’s purest form of expression and the bedrock on which his entire oeuvre is based.
The majority of the Subway Drawings were executed on blank sheets of black paper used by advertising companies as temporary “holding places” until a printed advertisement could be inserted in its spot. These sheets of black paper were glued into recessed panels, forcing anyone who wanted to remove one to either tear or cut it out. Because people who tried to remove them worked in haste, out of fear of being spotted by the police who patrolled the subway or by other bystanders, most Subway Drawings display imperfections — especially around the edges.
Much has been written about collectors, and other art aficionados, and the moral dilemma they faced in deciding whether to remove a Subway Drawing or leave it alone. The conundrum centered around the knowledge that the work of art had a very limited “shelf life.” On average, Haring’s Subway Drawings remained in place anywhere from two days to two weeks. Haring’s audience was aware that his Subway Drawings would either be destroyed by vandalism or covered over with an advertisement. Many saw themselves as “rescuing” these works of art.
It is worth noting that Haring was quoted as saying that he could complete a Subway Drawing in “two to three minutes.” It has been estimated that some of the more complex drawings took up to eight minutes to finish. The vast majority of the Subway Drawings were done between 1980-1985. However, the exact number produced during this period is unknown. In the article, “Keith Haring: The Last Interview,” Keith was asked by Jason Rubell, “How many drawings do you think you did? Maybe 10,000?” Haring’s response was: “No probably more like 5,000. Which doesn’t sound like that many, but it is.”
No one has been able to determine how may Subway Drawings survived. The most credible estimate that we have heard is approximately five to ten percent. This translates into roughly 250 to 500 drawings that remain in circulation.
It should be noted that the Keith Haring Foundation’s Authentication Board, refused to authenticate the artist’s Subway Drawings, claiming that Haring did not want them to become commodified. Richard Polsky Art Authentication’s position is that the legitimacy of a work of art is based on the artist’s intention. Keith Haring clearly created his Subway Drawings as bona fide works of art to be enjoyed by the thousands of people who took the New York subway each day. For the artist, it was all about connecting with this audience. The fact that those works which survived became collectible has no bearing on their authenticity.