[raiden]

KEITH HARING ORIGINAL

Provenance is gifted to a third party by a high net worth private collector with paperwork. 

I believe it's Sumi Ink on paper.  I have close up shots so you can establish it definitively.  

Small rip in corner which is pictured.  There is a little pixelation distortion in the up close image of the signature.  That's just a low res file thing.   

In terms of offers, would prefer to sell to private party to avoid the 30% auction premiums, though still considering consigning it and know a price range on comparable works, so no low ball offers.  

Size 9 1/2" x 12".  The size of the sheet the piece is on may be slightly bigger, as I haven't removed it from the mounting it's in.  

PM me with offers or interest.  

NOTE:  As of 3/21, I discovered some troubling questions about it's authenticity as I continued to research it's provenance prior to then contacting anyone interested.    

Here's the story:  

As I did additional work on provenance before getting back to anyone, I discovered that the established collector where this particular piece originated had several of the forged Haring chalk drawings that Pure Evil Gallery had come across in his collection, which then cast doubt on the authenticity of anything in his collection.  The fact this was gifted raised further questions.  

I'm now thinking it may be one of the fake pieces originating from the Patrick Maske.  It was likely gifted either knowingly or unknowingly as a forgery and then was brought to me to arrange a sale.   

At this point, until I get papers proving otherwise, I'm assuming it is a forgery.  

If anyone is able to provide info by looking at the pictures to better confirm or disprove that it's a forgery, I welcome to hear your thoughts.     

NOTE:  This conclusion was arrived at purely as a result of my own due diligence.  I had yet to respond to anyone as I was still finalizing the process of confirming it's authenticity.  No one raised any specific points of it possibly being a forgery, I discovered this wholly through my own research and purely through doing the proper due diligence before any sale.  

Mind you, I had put the piece up to solicit interest as soon as I had:
1) Tracked provenance to a high net worth, established art collector who claimed he had papers he was sending me. (I still haven't seen them)   
2) Received documentation of a gallery saying it was in fact consistent with Keith Haring's signature and style.   
3) Had early indications that provenance tracked back to the artist.  

Mind you, there is a remote possibility it is in fact real, but I am seriously doubting it and consequently will not sell it.  

Be careful out there!!  (By the way the chalk drawings are even more convincing of forgeries)  

[tartarus]

[Howard Johnson]

Authentication by the foundation on the recto?

[raiden]

I'm doing a final round of due diligence on this, as I'm brokering the transaction after advising the current owner. The initial investigation on the provenance checked out fully as well as initial documentation, but now triple checking the chain of title, specifically if it was validly gifted.

[Howard Johnson]

Like Warhols, the only true source of authentication is through the artist's foundation which no longer exists. If its been authenticated it will have a stamp, signature, and date on the back. if it doesn't have this then you may be better off taking it to a top auction house as their experts will give buyers piece of mind.

[frank2]

Can you please post some pix? thank you