Sotheby’s Debuts George Condo and Keith Haring Exhibition

Sotheby’s Palm Beach will celebrate its third season on the island in a new, state-of-the-art gallery and exhibition space at the Slat House at The Royal Poinciana Plaza.

To unveil the gallery, Sotheby’s will present “Condo x Haring: Expressions of the Imagination,” a major selling exhibition of paintings, works on paper, and sculpture by contemporary icons George Condo and Keith Haring, featuring the artists’ signature and most sought-after iconography. On view November 19 through December 31, visitors will be treated to approximately 30 works that illustrate and commemorate the artists’ deep friendship and stylistic influences on each other. Together, the group of works to be exhibited carries a total value in excess of $50 million, with individual pieces priced from $200,000 to $7 million.

The artists’ friendship began in 1983 when Haring attended an exhibition featuring works by then 26-year-old Condo at Anderson Theater Gallery in New York. Haring was captivated by the raw, avant-garde style of Condo’s abstract figuration and purchased several of the works in the exhibition. By this time, Haring’s popularity was explosive among the downtown New York graffiti and hip-hop scene, and his new brand of Pop Art was being noticed domestically and internationally. Condo was enamored with the freedom and immediacy of Haring’s work and sought to learn more from his iconic style.

Condo and Haring began meeting regularly and fostered a close friendship that transcended into a collaborative artistic relationship, often working together in their respective studios. In fact, several of Condo’s most recognized works (including Dancing to Miles, 1985, now in the collection of The Broad Foundation) were created in Haring’s East Village studio. Until Haring’s death in February of 1990, the two remained close confidantes. Their profound influence on each other’s style ultimately helped sculpt and define the art of their generation.

For Condo, Haring’s artistic vision was departure from the formality of Post-War art of the 1960s and 1970s. Haring’s signature iconography captured an enduring spirit of youthfulness and joy. Similarly, Haring was influenced by Condo’s intuitive and spontaneous process, having witnessed Condo paint his Expanding Canvases, and admiring how his use of shapes and forms manifested differently in each piece. Haring saw Condo as a burgeoning talent, a sophisticated mind, and an inimitable tastemaker. He juggled the labor of creating intellectually challenging art, while always surrounding himself with a cultured, diverse, and eclectic network of friends.

Both artists inherited the legacy of the masters who came before them—namely Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Alexander Calder, and Jackson Pollock—and revolutionized the idea of abstract figuration with their own transformative use of line and form.

Guests can tour the exhibition at The Slat House at The Royal Poinciana Plaza Tuesdays to Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. By-appointment tours are also available.