Keith Haring artwork from childhood home going to auction
‘Radiant Baby’ wall painting part of an auction on Sept. 14
Scott Garner could hardly believe it.
It was just about 20 years ago, and he and his wife, Angela, were shopping for a house. They had stopped by a old Victorian home in the 200 block of South Whiteoak Street in Kutztown that was for sale.
The two-story, redbrick home with a wraparound porch needed a little bit of work — like replacing all of the aging windows — but Scott and Angela quickly realized that was a small price to pay for such a special place.
It turns out, much to the couple’s delight, the house was the childhood home of noted pop artist Keith Haring.
And while the home’s owner, a woman who had grown up and gone to high school with Haring, showed the Garners around, she dropped a tidbit that absolutely floored the couple and sealed the deal.
“She just kind of flippantly said there’s a drawing on a wall downstairs, on a wall in what was his bedroom,” Scott said. “I’m just trying to process this while I’m going on this tour. I kept thinking, ‘This is way too cool. We’re not going to be able to get this house.’ “
The woman happily showed off the artwork, a gold version of Haring’s “Radiant Baby” painted on a blue background just above a light switch that he likely created during a visit to his parents after moving out of the home.
The piece was small, only about the size of Scott’s open hand, but intriguing.
At one point, the woman had thought about painting over it. She ultimately decided not to.
The Garners were thrilled she didn’t. Being able to live in a house with such historic significance was one thing, but owning a house with a hidden gem literally scrawled on the wall was more than they could ever imagine possible.
“I thought it was going to be too cool for us to own this,” Scott said. “This is a really unique piece of history.”
The house turned out not to be too cool for the Garners to get their hands on. They bought the property and have lived there alongside the “Radiant Baby” ever since.
That is, until recently. After nearly two decades housing Haring’s piece of artwork, the Garners have decided it’s time to find it a new home. They have
had it extracted and plan to sell it during an auction next month.
Scott said the proceeds from the sale will help pay the tuition of the couple’s 17-year-old son, Reed, when he heads off to college next year.
“When our son was about 1 I was thinking about how someday he’ll go to college,” Scott said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to think of this as his scholarship?’ “
Sharing their secret
While college money is one reason the Garners are selling the artwork, Scott said he also has a desire to see it appreciated by a wider audience.
“I want to share the piece of art with the world and have more people see it in a collection than could ever come through our door,” he said.
Of course, quite a few people have come through the family’s door to see the piece.
Scott said that over the years they have fairly frequently spotted people — usually a freshman Kutztown University art student with a parent — standing in front of their home to get a glimpse of the spot where Haring grew up.
Scott would often wave the timid visitors toward the front door, inviting them inside for a tour. The “Radiant Baby” — Scott believes is in a first-floor room that was likely Haring’s bedroom — is always a hit.
“It’s been a curiosity for some people,” he said.
The Garners use the room as an exercise room and an auxiliary guest bedroom when needed. They’ve decked it out as an homage to Haring, filled with bright colors and prints of his work.
Of course, the centerpiece of that homage is now gone, having recently been delivered to an auction house in New Jersey in preparation for its sale.
“It feels a little bare now,” Scott admitted, quickly adding that the loss of the piece hasn’t diminished his fondness for his home. “The rest of the house has been wonderful, we have great neighbors and we’re close to the university.”
Selling a truly unique piece of art
Dr. Christine Oaklander said she wasn’t really prepared during her first visit to the Garners home.
The art historian who has been tapped by the family to help sell the “Radiant Baby” wall art had been filled in about the piece during a phone conversation. But seeing it in person while standing in the artist’s childhood bedroom was truly a unique experience.
“It was very exciting to me,” she said. “To realize it was literally on the wall of the bedroom gave me goosebumps. It was jawdropping. I was in awe.”
Oaklander said she feels proud and privileged to play a role in selling the Haring artwork. She said she is quite familiar with the artist, having lived in New York during his heyday in the 1980s.
And, she was well aware of his Berks County roots, having served for five years at the Allentown Museum of Art, which has a halfdozen major Haring artworks.
“During my time there I featured him in a couple of the galleries,” she said.
But while she appreciated those pieces, none has quite the level of mystique of the one she saw on the Garners’ wall. That piece has a story. That piece has history.
“It’s quite amazing that is has survived since the 1980s, and how the owner almost painted over it and how the Garners stumbled onto the house,” she said. “I’ve been in the field for 38 years and I’ve never heard anything like that.”
Oaklander said she thinks the piece will receive international attention at auction, especially after she convinced the Garners to include a few other items in the lot.
The family had discovered a pair of Haring posters in their home — one in a closet and one in an attic — as well as a set of four cubbies that were built by Haring’s dad. The cubbies are adorned with the names of Haring and his three sisters.
“I immediately told them it should be a grouping of the painting, the posters they had found and the cubbyholes,” Oaklander said. “The three items are a capsule of history of Keith Haring’s close family and his many, many years growing up in that house.”
The Garners agreed, and all of the items will be on sale together as part of Rago/Wright’s fall Post War and Contemporary Art auction on Sept. 14. The auction will be held at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, N.J., starting at 11 a.m.
A signed letter of authenticity from Haring’s father, Allen, will accompany the painting.