Keith Haring was an American artist working in the pop art genre. He studied at the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, but dropped out after two semesters. He also studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He first came to public attention with his graffiti art in the underground. There he created drawings in white chalk on black, unused advertising boards in the stations. Between 1982 and 1989, he produced more than 50 works in public places, many of them created pro bono for hospitals, day care centres and schools. The artist died as a result of complications from AIDS at the age of 31, on 16 February 1990.