New York Historical Society

In honor of the installation of the ceiling from Keith Haring’s famous Pop Shop above the new admissions area in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History, the New-York Historical Society, in collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation, has created a rotating display devoted to the Pop Shop in the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture. The ceiling is a gift from the Haring Foundation, and all items in the Luce Center display are on loan from Foundation.

In 1986, with the encouragement of his friend and mentor Andy Warhol (1928–1987), internationally known New York artist Keith Haring (1958–1990) caused controversy by opening the Pop Shop in downtown Manhattan. Haring saw the Pop Shop as an extension of his work, a type of public performance that expanded upon his philosophy that art should be accessible to everyone. For nearly twenty years, the shop at 292 Lafayette Street was a downtown attraction, decorated with floor-to ceiling murals, selling affordable clothing and other items featuring Haring’s unique icons, including the “radiant baby” and “barking dog.”