ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A 7-foot painting that might or might not be the work of famed pop artist Keith Haring went on sale on eBay on Friday night. Opening bid: 99 cents.
The seller is a Pennsylvania man, Ed Oswald, who thinks the “Hope” painting is an original Haring.
But his cousin Kermit Oswald, a childhood friend of Haring’s and one of the world’s leading authorities on his work, has long said it’s a knockoff.
As a result, the eBay listing does not claim the painting is an authentic Haring. Instead, buyers will bid on “an original painting on board from the 1980’s in a remarkable likeness and style of a Keith Haring, with a very interesting story & provenance.”
The unsigned painting is on the back of a piece of wood paneling and shows a yellow stick figure holding aloft a red heart. The word “hope” is printed within the heart’s outlines. Thick squiggles radiate outward, a Haring trademark.
Ed Oswald said he found the painting four years ago in the attic of relatives who knew Haring from childhood and bought the piece at auction in the 1980s. He said he immediately thought it to be Haring’s work.
But when he tried selling it as such in April 2005, his cousin told The Associated Press the painting was a fake.
“I don’t know the origins of the thing,” Kermit Oswald said Friday. “I just know what it’s not.”
If deemed authentic, the painting could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Norb Novocin, whose company is handling the auction.
