Keith Haring Foundation Disbands Authentication Committee and Ceases Accepting Applications for Review of Haring Works

Julia Gruen, the executive director of the Keith Haring Foundation, announced today that the Foundation’s trustees have unanimously resolved to dissolve the Foundation’s authentication committee and to discontinue accepting applications for review of artworks attributed to Keith Haring.

After careful consideration, the trustees came to the conclusion that the public and the Foundation’s charitable mission would be better served if the resources presently required for the operation of the authentication committee were redirected to purposes more directly related to the charitable goals designated by the Foundation’s founder, the artist Keith Haring.  The Foundation is exploring the development of a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work.

The Foundation will honor requests for review received prior to September 1, 2012 but not requests submitted thereafter.

The Keith Haring Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit groups that engage in charitable and educational activities. In accordance with Keith Haring’s wishes, the Foundation concentrates its giving in two areas: the support of organizations that provide educational opportunities to underprivileged children, and the support of organizations engaged in education, prevention and care with respect to AIDS and HIV infection.

Haring also charged the Foundation with maintaining and protecting his artistic legacy. The Foundation maintains a collection of art, together with archives that facilitate historical research about the artist and the times and contexts in which he lived and worked, and supports arts and educational institutions by funding exhibitions, educational programs, acquisitions and publications that contextualize and illuminate the artist’s work and philosophy.

During his lifetime, Haring (1958-1990) was generous in contributing his talents and resources to numerous causes. He conducted art workshops with children, created logos and posters for public service agencies, and produced murals, sculptures, and paintings to benefit health centers and disadvantaged communities. The Foundation was established by the terms of the artist’s will to ensure the continuation of his philanthropic legacy.