Keith HARING Print 1986/1995 Bunny On The Move - PLAYBOY

- Really big: ca. 62 x 92,8 cm

- Verkerke Gallery Edition

- ‚Bunny On The Move‘ 1986/1995

- Special Editions Limited: From The Playboy Art Archives

- Several marks/signs of age/stains. Please see pictures for condition.

Back story (the playboy prints):

In 1986, Playboy commissioned Haring to produce several works for their magazine. After Haring died in 1990, Playboy reproduced several of these pieces in limited editions and merchandise – through their subsidiary Special Editions, Ltd. in Chicago, IL. The works are sometimes individually or collectively referred to as the “KH86 suite”. Although the collaboration initially was a success, it was a later source of controversy, as the Keith Haring Foundation claimed the magazine sold the designs as merchandise without obtaining an extension of the rights.

On 1st of June 1990, the Chicago Tribune ran an article on the debacle:

“Bunny No. 1” and “Bunny No. 2” never made the pages of Playboy magazine, but the 1986 drawings by the late pop artist Keith Haring are at the center of a federal suit filed against Playboy Enterprises Inc. by Haring’s estate.

Lawyers for the estate of Haring, who died in February at age 32, sued Playboy and what they said were affiliated companies, charging unauthorized sale and distribution of a series of limited-edition reproductions of works by Haring.

...

Also in 1986, he created the “Bunny No. 1” and “Bunny No. 2” drawings. The suit said he granted Playboy the right to publish “Bunny No. 2” on the January 1987 cover of the magazine, for which Playboy agreed to pay $5,000 regardless of whether the drawing was used.

According to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York Wednesday, Haring didn’t assign any other rights to either drawing to Playboy. The suit seeks to enjoin distribution of the reproductions as well as unspecified damages.

Terri Tomcisin, a Playboy spokeswoman, said the company hadn’t received a copy of the suit and couldn’t comment on it.

However, she said Playboy had commissioned Haring, paid for and clearly owns the rights to three rabbit-head drawings intended for covers that were never published and another drawing called “Earthman”, which ran inside the magazine in the January 1986 issue.

She said the reproductions are now being sold as posters, limited to a total of 1,000 each for the four drawings. However, Tomcisin said the posters aren’t numbered, and no claim is made that Haring signed the reproductions individually.

Will be shipped safely from Germany.

All infos due to my research and without guarantee. Private auction. No guarantee, no returns.

 — Pop Art, Urban Art, Contemporary Art