Portraits

Keith Haring, revered for his anonymous yet universally relatable cartoon figures, also used his simplified style to create portraits of familiar faces. From popular culture icons like Andy Warhol to famed boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho, Haring rendered his subjects in thick, contoured lines to collapse distinctions between his cartoon figures and realistic representation. Haring believed in the power of a portrait, and often insisted on being photographed alongside his recently completed murals—he knew that it was not just his work that mattered to his legacy, but also his own image. “You can’t just stay in your studio and paint; that’s not the most effective way to communicate,” Haring once said.