Tower (Keith Haring)

Last updated
Tower
SCratChing the surfaCe - Vhils - Nuit blanche 2014 - Paris (2).jpg
Artist Keith Haring
Year1987
Movement Pop Art
Dimensions2700 cm× 1300 cm(1,100 in× 510 in)
ConditionRestored
Location Paris, France
Coordinates 48° 50′ 43″ N, 2° 18′ 56″ E
Owner Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital

Tower (French: Tour) is a mural by American artist Keith Haring executed in 1987. [1] The mural covers the exterior of a preserved stairwell from the now demolished building of the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris, France. [2] It is one of two public murals in France by the artist. [3]

Contents

Description

The 88.5 foot-tall mural is composed of black line figures overlaid on bright-colored shapes. William Shank, former chief conservator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, described the mural:

His freehand design depicts a large pregnant woman, his signature crawling ‘radiant babies,’ and a handful of bouncing figures of adults interacting with children. All of the figures were applied in thick black lines, at close-range and without preliminary sketches, over free-form shapes of bright yellows, greens, blues and reds. [4]

Historical Information

Conception

Haring painted the mural while in Paris for the 10th anniversary exhibition of American artists at the Centre Pompidou. [5] [6] It covers the surface of what was once an exterior stairwell of the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital. Haring had described the Necker hospital as the "ugly building" and wrote in his journal in 1987 that: “I made this painting to amuse the sick children in this hospital, now and in the future”. [4]

It was painted with the assistance of Haring's then boyfriend and member of the House of Xtravaganza Juan Rivera. [7] They completed the mural over the course of three days without the use of preparatory sketches, using a crane to suspend themselves from the top of the structure. [5]

Restoration

Planning for a restoration of the mural began in 2011 as the stairwell and paint surface had become so derelict as to be condemned by the hospital's officials. [4] Conservator William Shank described how: "iron armature was poking through the painted surface alarmingly in many key places, disrupting the visual harmony of the mural," and that "the black lines themselves had suffered from extreme seasonal changes in temperature, lifting and peeling away from the tower over about eighty percent of the surface". [8] [5]

Gallerist Jérôme de Noirmont led restoration efforts in collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation. Funding was primarily provided by the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation and through a charity auction organized by Sotheby's. [2] Restoration was undertaken by conservators Antonio Rava and William Shank, who had also restored Haring's 1989 mural Tuttomondo in Pisa, Italy. [4]

By the time the Tower was fully restored in September 2017, the 1950s surgery center the stairwell had once attached to had been demolished and a new hospital building had been constructed. The mural now stands as a "totem" and centerpiece of the hospital gardens. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Alfaro Siqueiros</span> Mexican social realist painter (1896–1974)

David Alfaro Siqueiros was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he was one of the most famous of the "Mexican muralists". He was a member of the Mexican Communist Party, and a Stalinist and supporter of the Soviet Union who led an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Leon Trotsky in May 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Haring</span> American artist and social activist (1958–1990)

Keith Allen Haring was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his work includes sexual allusions that turned into social activism by using the images to advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness. In addition to solo gallery exhibitions, he participated in renowned national and international group shows such as documenta in Kassel, the Whitney Biennial in New York, the São Paulo Biennial, and the Venice Biennale. The Whitney Museum held a retrospective of his art in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sant Climent, Taüll</span>

Sant Climent de Taüll, also known as the Church of St. Clement of Tahull, is a Roman Catholic church in Catalonia, Spain. It is an example of Romanesque architecture. Other influences include the Lombard and Byzantine styles, which can be seen throughout the exterior and interior of the building. The church is a basilica plan structure with three naves, each of them with a terminal apse, and large columns separating the side naves. Connecting to the church is a slim bell tower that has six floors plus a base. The artwork inside the church include the famous mural paintings by the Master of Taüll, as well as the wooden altar frontal. These works of art represent different aspects of Christianity that can also be found in many other works of art. The most famous fresco, of Christ in Majesty in the main apse of the church, has been moved to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Necker–Enfants Malades Hospital</span> Hospital in Paris, France

The Necker–Enfants Malades Hospital is a French teaching hospital in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. It is a hospital of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris group and is affiliated to the Université Paris Cité. Necker–Enfants Malades Hospital was created in 1920 by the merger of Necker Hospital, which was founded in 1778 by Suzanne Necker, with the physically contiguous Sick Children's Hospital, the oldest children's hospital in the Western world, founded in 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Zakheim</span> American painter

Bernard Baruch Zakheim was a Warsaw-born San Francisco muralist, best known for his work on the Coit Tower murals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amandus Church (Freiberg am Neckar)</span>

The Protestant Amandus Church in Freiberg am Neckar, Germany, is a late Gothic fortified former village church. Apart from the collegiate church in Bad Urach it is the only church of that name in Baden-Württemberg. Situated on a hill above the old village centre, it is notable for a diversity of architectural styles and for its paintings and organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paintings conservator</span>

A paintings conservator is an individual responsible for protecting cultural heritage in the form of painted works of art. These individuals are most often under the employ of museums, conservation centers, or other cultural institutions. They oversee the physical care of collections, and are trained in chemistry and practical application of techniques for repairing and restoring paintings.

EverGreene Architectural Arts (EverGreene), based in New York City, is a specialty contractor and design studio working with commercial, government, institutional, sacred and theater clients in the areas of interior restoration, conservation, decoration and new design. Established in 1978, EverGreene is a company of artists, conservators, craftsmen and designers who work throughout the United States and several sites abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of outdoor artworks</span>

The conservation and restoration of outdoor artworks is the activity dedicated to the preservation and protection of artworks that are exhibited or permanently installed outside. These works may be made of wood, stone, ceramic material, plastic, bronze, copper, or any other number of materials and may or may not be painted. When applied to cultural heritage this activity is generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer.

The conservation and restoration of outdoor murals is the process of caring for and maintaining murals, and includes documentation, examination, research, and treatment to insure their long-term viability, when desired.

The conservation and restoration of ancient Greek pottery is a sub-section of the broader topic of conservation and restoration of ceramic objects. Ancient Greek pottery is one of the most commonly found types of artifacts from the ancient Greek world. The information learned from vase paintings forms the foundation of modern knowledge of ancient Greek art and culture. Most ancient Greek pottery is terracotta, a type of earthenware ceramic, dating from the 11th century BCE through the 1st century CE. The objects are usually excavated from archaeological sites in broken pieces, or shards, and then reassembled. Some have been discovered intact in tombs. Professional conservator-restorers, often in collaboration with curators and conservation scientists, undertake the conservation-restoration of ancient Greek pottery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beach Chalet</span> United States historic place

The Beach Chalet is a historic two-story Spanish Colonial Revival-style building, located at the far western end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The building is owned by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department; and the tenants are the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant, and the Park Chalet.

Construction Fence or Milwaukee Mural is mural by American artist Keith Haring. The mural was commissioned in 1983 in celebration of the groundbreaking of the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It originally decorated a fence surrounding the construction site of the museum and is currently in the museum's permanent collection. It is among the earliest large-scale, site-specific public art projects by Haring.

<i>We the Youth</i> (Keith Haring) Mural by Keith Haring in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We the Youth is a mural by Keith Haring covering the west face of a private rowhouse in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was painted during a three-day workshop on 1, 2 and 3 September 1987. It is the only of Haring's collaborative public murals to remain in its original location. The mural was intended as a temporary placeholder until new row houses would eventually cover the wall of the mural.

<i>Crack Is Wack</i> Mural in New York by Keith Haring

Crack Is Wack is a mural created in 1986 by American artist and social activist Keith Haring. Located near the Harlem River Drive in East Harlem, the mural serves as a warning against crack cocaine use, which was rampant in major cities across the United States during the mid to late 1980s. As a symbol of anti-drug activism, Crack Is Wack commemorates Haring's powerful sociopolitical presence as an artist and remains a part of New York City's repertoire of iconic public art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Cavazzana</span> Italian physician and cellular biologist

Marina Cavazzana is a professor of Paediatric Immunology at the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and the Imagine Institute, as well as an academic at Paris Descartes University. She was awarded the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize in 2012 and elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2019.

<i>Todos Juntos Podemos Parar el SIDA</i> Mural by Keith Haring in Barcelona, Spain

Todos Juntos Podemos Parar el SIDA is a mural created by American artist and social activist Keith Haring in 1989. The mural was painted to raise awareness to the Aids epidemic. It is located next to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona museum in the El Raval neighborhood of Barcelona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota State Capitol artwork</span> History and usage of artwork at the state capitol

The Minnesota State Capitol opened in 1905 with roughly 60 artworks that totaled $300,000, or 7% of the $4.5-million project budget. Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Capitol building, had envisioned that the artworks would add "educational value" and provide for the "advancement of civilization and intelligence." Over the years, more artworks would be added to the Capitol, totaling nearly 150 by 2017. Much of the Capitol art is allegorical, as expressed through murals and sculptures, while some feature key moments in Minnesota history. While the allegorical symbolism used in the paintings would have been more widely understood during the time they were painted, over time the meanings have been challenged.

<i>Tuttomondo</i> Mural by Keith Haring in Pisa, Italy

Tuttomondo is a mural created by American artist Keith Haring in 1989. Located on the rear wall of the Sant'Antonio Abate church in Pisa, it is one of the last public murals executed before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1990. It is also one of the few outdoor public works created by Haring for permanent display.

<i>Keith Haring Mural</i> Mural by Keith Haring in Melbourne, Australia

The Keith Haring Mural is a mural created in 1984 by American artist Keith Haring. Located in Collingwood, Melbourne, the mural was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2004 for its historical, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.

References

  1. Production, Noirmont Art. "KEITH HARING". Noirmontartproduction Art Production. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  2. 1 2 Juliette Hardy & Marine Leroy. "PRESS RELEASE: Inauguration of "Tower", the restored tower of the American artist Keith Haring, thanks to the support of numerous sponsors and partners" (PDF).
  3. "Murals Map | Keith Haring". www.haring.com. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Sulcas, Roslyn (7 September 2017). "An 88-Foot-High Keith Haring Mural Is Restored in Paris". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 3 "The complex preservation of Keith Haring's 1987 mural at the Hopital Necker des Enfants Malades, Paris by Will Shank + Antonio Rava | International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works". www.iiconservation.org. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  6. "Paris Mural | Keith Haring". www.haring.com. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  7. Cruz-Malave, Arnaldo. Queer Latino Testimonio - Keith Haring and Juanito Xtravaganza: Hard Tails . Palgrave MacMillan books, 2007
  8. "Artistic 'Tower': Restoring Keith Haring's Works | Artinfo". Artinfo. Retrieved 2018-05-26.