The Blueprint Drawings portfolio of screenprints are based on a series of unique works on paper (sumi ink on vellum) which Keith Haring originally executed when living in New York between the summer of 1980 and January 1981, an important period for Haring’s early creative career. This was also the time that Haring began drawing in the NYC subways. Later, in 1990, one month prior to his death, Haring revisited the drawings creating a portfolio of 17 screenprints of these very images, marking the last cohesive project of his career. As irreverent as Haring’s images are, the messages conveyed by the artist are meant to confront the viewer head-on. There are references to sex, racism, religion, and AIDS — which he eventually succumbed to in 1990. Haring’s The Blueprint Drawings serve as an early visual history in the life of an artist whose message managed to transcend far beyond his imaginable reach and this voice still resonates today. This work is the largest in this historically important portfolio - signed, numbered and dated by Keith Haring, front of sheet, in pencil.