«IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE»

On January 22, Phillips will offer Keith Haring’s Totem (1988) as part of its Evening Sale in London. The American artist, best known for his line-based graphic expressions, initially set out to study commercial art in Pittsburgh, but soon moved to New York, where he found his niche in an emerging scene that included artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kenny Scharf.

“The drawings I do have very little to do with classical, post-renaissance drawings, where you try to imitate life or make it appear to be lifelike,” Haring said. “My drawings don’t try to imitate life; they try to create life, to invent life.” This particular work is number 7/35 of Haring’s series of carved plywood totems painted with colored enamel. On the reverse is a plaque that contains Haring’s signature, the date “88,” and the edition written in black felt-tip pen.

Totem by Keith Haring, 1988, 22" h. x 72" w.; Phillips, London, January 22; estimate $107,000 to $152,000. phillips.com