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‘I told his family he was HIV positive’: Keith Haring’s best friend on life with the artist as unseen works go on show
For nearly four decades, the artist Kermit Oswald lived with some of the most intimate works Haring ever made. Now the pieces are going up for auction The story of how Keith Haring came to paint a crib began on a quiet, ordinary afternoon in 1986. His best friend’s wife was pregnant, and the couple didn’t have the money to buy a new crib for their home in New York City ’s Greenpoint neighborhood. “I called my parents to ask if my old crib was still in the attic,” says artist Kermit Oswald, Haring’s friend since childhood. “I got it and I painted it yellow, then Keith came over, we had a few beers and he painted the rest of it.” Haring is famed as an enduring, globally recognized celebrant of Aids activism, nightlife and the New York Bohemian scene of the 1980s. But he honored his connection with his straight best friend even as he rubbed shoulders with Andy Warhol , Robert Mapplethorpe a
Source brief
For nearly four decades, the artist Kermit Oswald lived with some of the most intimate works Haring ever made. Now the pieces are going up for auction The story of how Keith Haring came to paint a crib began on a quiet, ordinary afternoon in 1986. His best friend’s wife was pregnant, and the couple didn’t have the money to buy a new crib for their home in New York City ’s Greenpoint neighborhood. “I called my parents to ask if my old crib was still in the attic,” says artist Kermit Oswald, Haring’s friend since childhood. “I got it and I painted it yellow, then Keith came over, we had a few beers and he painted the rest of it.” Haring is famed as an enduring, globally recognized celebrant of Aids activism, nightlife and the New York Bohemian scene of the 1980s. But he honored his connection with his straight best friend even as he rubbed shoulders with Andy Warhol , Robert Mapplethorpe a
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This is a source-linked brief from The Guardian. Read the original item at ‘I told his family he was HIV positive’: Keith Haring’s best friend on life with the artist as unseen works go on show.
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- Published by source: 2026-05-08T09:00:41+00:00
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- ‘I told his family he was HIV positive’: Keith Haring’s best friend on life with the artist as unseen works go on showThe Guardian - 2026-05-08T09:00:41+00:00
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