Rare letter from Keith Haring with an original drawing - Radiant Finger. 1988.

Keith HARING (1958.1990)

Autograph letter signed to Bertrand Aussel, says Monkeyfinger.

Two in-4 ° pages, written in capital letters, on paper at its header

Stamped and canceled autograph envelope.

[New York. July 8, 1988, according to the postal cachet].

Rare document by the American artist to his colleague Street-Artiste Monkeyfinger. On the second page, the letter is enriched with an original drawing appearing an open hand with the pointed and radiant index.

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"Monkey Finger - Sorry I Don't Write. I AM BUSY AND TRAVELING ALL THE TIME. How are you? Why do you go in the hospital? Hope your ok i told kwong chi you said hello. I haven't been in Paris for a while. Maybe Next Time, i'll see you. Till then, Take Care. Keith. »»

Translation: "Monkey Finger - Sorry not to have written you. I am overwhelmed and I travel constantly. How are you ? Why are you going to the hospital? I hope you're well. I told Kwong Chi that you spent hello to him. I haven't been to Paris for a while. Maybe we'll see each other next time. Until then, take care of yourself. Keith. »»

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It was in the same year 1988, a few days after this letter, that Keith Haring learned his contamination by the AIDS virus. He therefore engaged in the fight against disease by putting his art and his notoriety at the service of this cause. The Keith Haring Foundation was created for this purpose in 1989. The artist died from the disease in February 1990.

A month after this letter, another free figuration giant, Jean-Michel Basquiat, dies of an overdose in New York. Very affected by the death of his friend, Keith Haring devotes a canvas to him, A Pile of Crowns, for Jean-Michel Basquiat ("A bunch of crowns for Jean-Michel Basquiat").

Street-artist Bertrand Aussel Aka Monkeyfinger, was a close friend of Haring and the famous American photographer Tseng Kwong Chi (mentioned by Haring in the letter) to whom we owe thousands of clichés of Haring.