Keith Haring Artwork (1958 – 1990) – art that danced

Keith Haring Icons

Keith Haring was an artist whose pop art graffiti-like painting, initially on the black paper used to cover discontinued billboard advertisements in the New York subway. They often appeared as spontaneous drawings in new york city subways with chalk outlines. After a feverish 1980’s style career of surging popular success and grudging critical attention, Haring died of AIDS February 16 1990, at 31.

Art is for Everyone

Keith Haring

Moving to New York and Early Years

Keith Haring artwork was vibrant and energetic and left an indelible mark on the art world. He found his artistic home in the bustling streets of New York City. Born in Pennsylvania in 1958, Haring’s journey to artistic stardom began when he boldly moved to the Big Apple in 1978. This move would be a pivotal moment in his life, propelling him towards international recognition and artistic immortality.

School of Visual Arts and Collaboration with Basquiat

After settling in New York, Haring enrolled at the School of Visual Arts, where he honed his skills and developed his unique style. It was during this time that he crossed paths with another artistic prodigy, Jean-Michel Basquiat. The two shared a friendship and collaborated on several occasions, solidifying their places as prominent figures within the art scene of the 1980s.

Three Lithographs, 1985 by Keith Haring
Three Lithographs, 1985 by Keith Haring

“Crack is Wack” Mural and Social Activism

In 1986, Haring famously created his iconic “Crack is Wack” mural. This powerful artwork served as a social commentary on the devastating impact of crack cocaine on communities. Located on a handball court at East 128th Street and 2nd Avenue in Harlem, the mural showcased Haring’s ability to use art for advocacy and change.

Radiant Baby and Symbolism

Haring’s work was characterized by bold lines, vivid colours, and distinctive figures, notably his signature “radiant baby.” This symbol, often depicted as a crawling child emitting rays of light, became synonymous with Haring’s art and represented hope, innocence, and the universal human spirit.

Keith Haring’s Ignorance = Fear, 1989. Photograph: © Keith Haring Foundation
Keith Haring’s Ignorance = Fear, 1989. Photograph: © Keith Haring Foundation

Haring and his subway drawing depicted demons as well as angels. He foresaw an apocalyptic catastrophe — his running monsters and whirling yet orderly lines, brilliantly composed, belong in our technological age. He was not a sentimentalist. He wrote of evil and greed.

The Japanese understood his work.

In Japan, his work was understood. The Japanese responded to it; he felt it was tied to their traditions of the ‘sign’ and the gesture and the concept of the ‘spirit of the line’ evident in Sumi painting and calligraphy.

Walker Art Center

As part of his artist residency at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This mural was specifically made to celebrate the completion of Walker’s underground education centre. The artwork featured an orange and green colour scheme.

Although the original mural no longer exists, we have photographic and video documentation that captures its creation and appearance. These records serve as valuable historical references to commemorate Haring’s work during his residency at the Walker Art Center.

The mural was displayed and accessible to the public from its completion in 1984 until December 1985, allowing visitors to experience Haring’s vibrant and dynamic style firsthand. While the physical artwork is no longer present, its impact and legacy remain significant in the art world and the cultural history of the Walker Art Center.

Berlin Wall and Global Recognition

As Haring’s career flourished, he gained recognition not only for his art but also for his activism. In 1986, he travelled to Berlin and created a mural on the Berlin Wall, further solidifying his status as a global artist with a message. Haring’s ability to blend art, activism, and popular culture made him a powerful force in the fight against social and political injustices.

East Village and Club 57

Haring’s influence extended beyond his collaborations with Basquiat and his public artworks. He was an integral part of the vibrant art scene in New York’s East Village and a regular at Club 57, a legendary venue known for its innovative performances and avant-garde exhibitions. Haring’s presence in this artistic melting pot allowed him to connect with other creative minds, such as Kenny Scharf, further enriching his artistic journey.

High and Low Art

What American museum curators initially could not see was Haring’s employment of high and low art. His barking dogs are a classic example of this. Haring understood clearly that the information age and the camera had blurred the boundaries between high and low art. Haring maintained a friendship with Andy Warhol. Haring provided Warhol access to the alternative scene, which Warhol exploited as a source of inspiration. Haring created the figure of Andy Mouse, based on Mickey Mouse, in 1985. The background is reminiscent of the Stars and Stripes, and the motif of Andy Mouse is supplemented by dollar signs in the ears of the mouse. By combining the Walt Disney product with the Andy Warhol product, Haring accords his friend the same iconic status.

Commercial Resilience

Since a few seasons ago, the Parisian brand Études has used Haring graphics in its work, just before Watanabe in Japan. The creative directors of Études, Aurélien Arbet and Jérémie Egry dug deeper into New York’s New Wave than just its hip-hop music and Kryolan spray cans found on the street. In the 1980s, Haring was a strong voice because of his work on Aids awareness, apartheid, and crack addiction. Somewhere Downtown, a new show at UCCA in Beijing looks at his place in the chaotic city of New York when he first started making art. Chaos and Hope, Haring’s first show at the Nakamura gallery in Japan, is being shown again to mark the gallery’s 15th anniversary.

Keith Haring was a big part of André Heller’s book Luna Luna, about an art theme park in Hamburg in the 1980s. The New York Public Library has more than 100 books with his work in its collection. He wanted his work seen by many people for as long as possible. His work in fashion was an essential part of his plan. Malcolm McLaren was the first to put Keith Haring’s art on the runway. He used it to package his Duck Rock album. Gil Vazquez is glad that Dijon went back to the early archives. She works with HIV and AIDS awareness charities, and black transwomen are some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Haring’s collection with Dijon is still for sale online at places like Farfetch and resale sites, and Basquiat’s art was used in her most recent collection.

Keith Haring was one of the first artists to make art products that people could wear, collect, and buy for a low price. Haring opened the Pop Shop on Lafayette Street to sell clothes, jewellery, toys, and posters. Many people who came to New York would make a point of going there. Haring worked with Artestar’s founder, David Stark. The Valentine’s Day deals at Primark are different from Honey’s story about the clubland, and Stark has worked with Haring on more than 2,000 projects since 1989. His art is still a language we use today (Have We Reached Peak Keith Haring?, 2023).

Legacy and Untimely Death

Tragically, Haring’s life was cut short in 1990 when he succumbed to AIDS-related complications at the age of 31. His untimely death shook the art world, but his legacy lives on through his iconic works, which continue to inspire and resonate with audiences worldwide.

Keith Haring’s art and artwork have made a significant impact on the art world. His ability to bridge the gap between high art and popular culture, combined with his unwavering commitment to social causes, cemented his status as a true artistic pioneer. Today, his art can be found in museums, galleries, and public spaces across the globe, a testament to the enduring power of his creative vision. Keith Haring’s radiant legacy lives on, reminding us of the transformative power of art and the importance of using our talents to make a positive difference in the world.

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Sources

Have we reached peak Keith Haring? (2023, March 6). Have We Reached Peak Keith Haring? | Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/2605aa4c-780f-4dfe-aaf7-48b16d57ba9c

Kolossa, A., Haring, K. (2004). Haring. Germany: Taschen.

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    Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is a place for artists to live and work, and is one of the only U.S. schools to teach the ancient art of fresco. Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture raised $21 million to help young artists and create an archive of over 700 lectures. LEARN MORERead More →


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  • Jay Spectre (1930 – 1992) American Interior and furniture designer

    Jay Spectre (1930 – 1992) American Interior and furniture designer

    Jay Spectre (1930 – 1992) was an American Interior and furniture designer. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was professionally active in New York. He began his interior design career in 1951 in Louisville. In 1968, he established the design company Jay Spectre, in New York. He designed interiors for luxury homes, private jet…


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  • Oscar Onken (1858 – 1948) and the ‘The Shop of the Crafters’

    Oscar Onken (1858 – 1948) and the ‘The Shop of the Crafters’

    Oscar Onken (1858 – 1948) was an American entrepreneur. He was professionally active in Ohio. Onken was a prominent businessman and philanthropist. Impressed with the Gustav Stickley and Austrian stands at the 1904 St. Louis ‘Louisiana Purchase Exposition,’ he founded The Shop of the Crafts in Cincinnati in 1904. Read More →


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  • Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer

    Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer

    Harry Bertoia was a sculptor, printmaker, jeweller, and furniture designer. He was born in San Lorenzo, Udine, and worked in the United States professionally. During World War Two he worked with Ray and Charles Eames on moulded-plywood technology. He worked primarily as a sculptor from the mid-1950s onwards. His sculpture was prominently featured in many…


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  • Vance Packard (1914 – 1996), writer and critic of consumerism

    Vance Packard (1914 – 1996), writer and critic of consumerism

    American writer who exposed the negative effects of consumerism in the developed world, including The Hidden Persuaders, Waste Makers, The Naked Society, and The People Shapers. He was a member of a long line of critics of capitalist culture. LEARN MORERead More →


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  • John Mascheroni (b.1932), American furniture designer

    John Mascheroni (b.1932), American furniture designer

    John Mascheroni has been designing furniture for his entire career, recognized for his design acuity and modernism. LEARN MORERead More →


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  • Francis H. Bacon (1856 – 1940) American Furniture Designer

    Francis H. Bacon (1856 – 1940) American Furniture Designer

    He was a designer for furniture maker Herter Brothers, commissioned by the company to furnish the New York William H. Vanderbilt House, 1881-83. LEARN MORERead More →


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  • Sam Maloof (1916 – 2009) American furniture designer

    Sam Maloof (1916 – 2009) American furniture designer

    The furniture designed by Sam Maloof can be found in every imaginable place in the United States, from boardrooms to bungalows, from the White House to the Smithsonian. READ MORERead More →


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  • Black Landscapes Matter (paperback)

    Black Landscapes Matter (paperback)

    “Do black landscapes matter?” is an issue that goes to the heart of American history. The nation’s terrain contains the wreckage of different origins, from slavery’s plantations to today’s divided cities, from freedman settlements to northern migrations for freedom.Read More →


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  • Paul Bacon (1923 – 2015) – created looks for books

    Paul Bacon (1923 – 2015) – created looks for books

    Paul Bacon was not a household name, but anyone who has a passion for books will have seen his works. Bacon was an artist, who used minimal imagery and bold typography to sell famous novels such as, “Catch 22” by Joseph Heller, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest’s and Phillip Roth’s “Portnoy’s complaint?Read More →


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  • Judith Leiber (1921 – 2018) American designer of handbags

    Judith Leiber  (1921 – 2018) American designer of handbags

    Judith Leiber (1921 – 2018) was a prolific designer whose fanciful minaudières had accessorised royalties, first ladies, and film stars, and entered the collections of art the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While her couture handbags—carried by celebrities such as Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Claudette Colbert, Björk, and Barbara Walters—are widely regarded as works of art,…


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  • Handel Company (1885 – 1936) American Lighting Company

    Handel Company (1885 – 1936) American Lighting Company

    American Lighting firm The Handel Company was founded in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1885 and created lamps and glass designs over the years. The business was incorporated in 1903.Read More →


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  • What Inspired Maya Lin’s Design of the Vietnam War Memorial?

    What Inspired Maya Lin’s Design of the Vietnam War Memorial?

    Embed from Getty Images Maya Lin is an award winning Asian American architect. Lin was born in Athens, Ohio, inRead More →


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  • Michael Taylor (1927 – 1986) – “California Look” 🌞

    Michael Taylor (1927 – 1986) – “California Look” 🌞

    Michael Taylor (1927 – 1986) was an American interior and furniture designer. He was known for the “California Style” and made his homes showplaces of the unexpected.Read More →


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  • Virgil Exner (1909 – 1973) American Industrial Designer

    Virgil Exner (1909 – 1973) American Industrial Designer

    He was hired to work in the Pontiac design lab after coming to the attention of Harley Earl at General Motors. Later, in 1938, he worked for Raymond Loewy’s design consultant on Studebaker cars, particularly the 1947 Starlight coupé. Loewy received the majority of the critical accolades. Read More →


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  • Maya Romanoff (1941 – 2014), American textile designer

    Maya Romanoff (1941 – 2014), American textile designer

    Maya Romanoff (1941- 2014) was an American Textile Designer. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley. When heRead More →


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  • Walter Kantack (1889 – 1953) – American Lighting Designer

    Walter Kantack (1889 – 1953) – American Lighting Designer

    Walter Kantack was an American Lighting Designer born in Meriden, Connecticut. He completed his studies at the Pratt Institute in New York.Read More →


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  • Henry Varnum Poor (1887 – 1970) American Designer & Artist

    Henry Varnum Poor (1887 – 1970) American Designer & Artist

    Henry Varnum Poor (1887-1970) was an American architect, painter, sculptor, muralist, potter, and architect. He was the grandnephew of Henry Varnmum Poor, a founding member of the company that became Standard & Poor’s.Read More →


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  • Dan Friedman (1945 – 1995) American Graphic Designer

    Dan Friedman (1945 – 1995) American Graphic Designer

    Dan Friedman (1945–1995) was a prolific graphic and furniture designer, artist, writer, and educator. Friedman’s work posed a radical challenge to tradition and commodification in design practice. His work is held in the collections of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.Read More →


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  • Alma Eikerman (1908 – 1995) American jewellery designer and silversmith

    Alma Eikerman (1908 – 1995) American jewellery designer and silversmith

    Alma Eikerman (1908 – 1995) was an American jewellery designer and silversmith. Eikerman was born in Pratt, Kansas, and graduated from Kansas State College in Emporia with a B.Sc. in 1934 and an M.Sc. in 1942. Read More →


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  • Egmont Arens (1888 – 1966) American Industrial Designer

    Egmont Arens (1888 – 1966) American Industrial Designer

    In 1935 he founded his own design company. He designed everything from toys, boats, aircraft, kitchen appliances, lamps and lampshades, beer cans, plastic containers, cigarette lighters, jukeboxes, watches and baby carriages.Read More →


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  • Hattie Carnegie (1886 – 1956) American Clothing Designer, Jeweller

    Hattie Carnegie (1886 – 1956) American Clothing Designer, Jeweller

    Her family settled in the USA when she was in her teens and took the Carnegie name. In 1909, with a friend, she opened a tiny dress and hat shop, New York, known as Carnegie—Ladies’ Hatter.Read More →


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  • George Nakashima (1905 – 1990) American woodworker and designer

    George Nakashima (1905 – 1990) American woodworker and designer

    In 1934, he worked in the Indian office of American architect Antonin Raymond. In 1937, in the Tokyo office, he studied Japanese carpentry techniques. In 1941, he set up his first workshop in Seattle. In 1942 in Idaho, Nakashima studied with an old Japanese carpenter until Antonin Raymond arranged his release. Read More →


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  • Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 – 1915) American furniture designer

    Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 – 1915) American furniture designer

    Elbert Green Hubbard (1856 – 1915) was an American furniture designer. Hubbard met William Morris in 1894 and the following year inspired by Morris’s Kelmscott Press, founded the Raycroft Press’ East Aurora, near Buffalo, New York. He was the founder of the Roycrofters, an Arts and Crafts community; he organized workshops, lectured, and wrote as…


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  • Frank Nuovo (b.1961) Chief Designer for Nokia

    Frank Nuovo (b.1961) Chief Designer for Nokia

    Nuovo studied product and automotive design and graphics and communications design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.Read More →


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  • Faience Manufacturing Company – the heart of American ceramics

    Faience Manufacturing Company – the heart of American ceramics

    The Faience Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturing company that operated between 1880 – 1892 in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn, New York. There is little evidence of the remains of the Company as it failed in 1892.Read More →


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  • Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) American sculptor and designer.

    Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) American sculptor and designer.

    Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988), was an American sculptor and designer. He was born in Los Angeles and professionally active in New York. He was influential and well-received in the twentieth century. He produced sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting designs, ceramics, architecture, and set designs throughout his lifetime of creative experimentation. His work, both subtle and bold,…


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  • Ulrich Franzen (1921 – 2012) German-born American architect and designer

    Ulrich Franzen (1921 – 2012) German-born American architect and designer

    Ulrich Franzen, the German-born American architect, was a leading figure in the first post-war generation of American architects; including Paul Rudolph, Harry Cobb, John Maclane Johansen, and Philip Johnson. Read More →


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  • Geoffrey Beene (1927-2004) an American Fashion Designer

    Geoffrey Beene (1927-2004) an American Fashion Designer

    Geoffrey Beene (1927 – 2004) was an American fashion designer; born Haynesville, Louisiana. He was a premed student at Tulane University when he found himself sketching gowns when he became bored during his lectures. Along with Bill Blass, he was regarded as the Godfather of American sportswear. Read More →


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  • Raymond Loewy (1893 – 1986) 🇺🇸 American Designer

    Raymond Loewy (1893 – 1986) 🇺🇸  American Designer

    He arrived in the United States in 1929, just in time for the great depression. As it happened the beginning of the depression was a fortuitous time for a talented designer with new ideas to arrive in the United States. The old design aesthetic was disappearing with the collapsing economy. Manufacturers wanted to stimulate demand…


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  • Angelo Testa (1921 – 1984) American fabric designer

    Angelo Testa (1921 – 1984) American fabric designer

    Angelo Testa (1921 – 1984) was an American fabric designer. He studied at the Institute of Design, Chicago, to 1945. As well as being a fabric designer, he was a painter and sculptor. He designed the 1941 Little Man abstract floral fabric, widely published and hailed as a new direction in textile design. It all…


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  • How Paul Rand influenced Steve Jobs to accept the the visual identity for NeXT.

    How Paul Rand influenced Steve Jobs to accept the the visual identity for NeXT.

    During Steve Job’s time at NeXT he commissioned graphic designer Paul Rand to create the visual identity for NeXT. Rand had the reputation for exerting great influence on his clients, he created a 100-page branding book to help Steve Jobs understand the entire design process hidden behind the NeXT identity. Read More →


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  • Calvin Klein (b.1942) American fashion designer

    Calvin Klein (b.1942) American fashion designer

    Klein’s excellent, modest tailoring and beautiful sportswear lines, as well as his casual separates created in the finest linens, silks, and cashmere, had earned him a name by the mid-1970sRead More →


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  • Hartmut Esslinger (b.1945) a German Industrial Designer

    Hartmut Esslinger (b.1945) a German Industrial Designer

    Hartmut Esslinger (born June 5, 1944) is a German-American industrial designer and inventor. He is best known for founding the design consultancy frog, and his work for Apple Computers in the early 1980s.Read More →


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  • Alexey Brodovitch (1898 – 1971) 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 graphic designer and magazine art director

    Alexey Brodovitch (1898 – 1971) 🇺🇸 🇷🇺  graphic designer and magazine art director

    Alexey Brodovitch (1898 – 1971) was an American/Russian graphic designer and magazine art director. Alexey Brodovitch was born in Russia and worked in Paris in the 1920s, creating books, posters, furniture, and advertising. He moved to America in 1930 and worked as the art director of Harper’s Bazaar magazine in New York after a brief…


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  • Paul McCobb (1917 – 1969) American furniture designer

    Paul McCobb (1917 – 1969) American furniture designer

    One of the leading designers of the American design movement from the mid-20th centuryRead More →


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  • Hilton McConnico (1943 – 2018) American interior and furniture designer

    Hilton McConnico (1943 – 2018) American interior and furniture designer

    Hilton McConnico ( 1943 – 2018) was American furniture and interior designer. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He worked professionally in Paris.Read More →


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  • Dominick Labino (1910 – 1987) American glassware designer and ceramicist

    Dominick Labino (1910 – 1987) American glassware designer and ceramicist

    He began his work as an instrument builder for the Bacharach Instrument Company in Pittsburgh. He then moved on to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, where he developed a lifetime interest in glass. He established small laboratories to create new glass batches and fabricate small glass objects while in command of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company milk-bottle plant.…


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  • Harvey Littleton (1922 – 2013) American glassware designer

    Harvey Littleton (1922 – 2013) American glassware designer

    Between 1939-42 and 1946-47, he studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, receiving a bachelor’s degree in design. In 1941 and 1949-51, he studied Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, receiving a master’s degree in ceramics. In 1945, he was a student at the Brighton School of Art, Brighton, under Nora Braden’s…


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  • Ray and Charles Eames a partnership

    Ray and Charles Eames a partnership

    They were full collaborators as husband and wife. Design is infrequently a solitary endeavour, and husband-and-wife teams are not uncommon. The collaborative nature of the Eames work, on the other hand, was easily obscured by Charles’s widespread public recognition as an individual designer and thinker.Read More →


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  • John Eberson (1875 – 1954) American Designer famous for the atmospheric theatre

    John Eberson (1875 – 1954) American Designer famous for the atmospheric theatre

    John Eberson was an american designer who was known for his cinema décors. One of his earliest, the 1923 Majestic Theatre in Houston, Texas, was a loosely recreated garden of a late-Renaissance palazzo in Italy. Through his workshop Michelangelo Studios, he was was successful at producing elaborate plasterwork for his theatre décors in Spanish, Moorish,…


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Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) – Moravian decorator and painter – Encyclopedia of Design

Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) was a Moravian decorator, painter, and graphic artist. In the 1890s and early 1900s, Mucha is well known for his Art Nouveau posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. Mucha first designed stage sets in Vienna; moved to Munich, in 1885 and Paris in 1887.

Explore 5 popular topics on Google Arts and Culture – Encyclopedia of Design

The following are 5 popular topics that are published on Google and Arts and Culture. It is one of my favourite parts of the Google universe.

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