Incollect Magazine - Issue 14

Incollect Magazine 35 What are the three most important things any collector should ask when thinking about buying a subway drawing? What documentation and provenance can be proven, not just claimed by a seller? Who has independently reviewed it, and will that review hold up with insurers, museums, or auction house specialists? Has it been vetted in an institutional context, meaning through a museum exhibition history or museum-level curatorial and conservation review? What qualities do you look for in the very best subway drawings? Visual strength and defensibility. You want a confident line, clear iconography, and an image that communicates instantly. You also want it to be in a condition that allows it to reside in a museum, with proper conservation, framing, and documentation that can withstand expert scrutiny. How do you determine authenticity? I have owned or co-owned about 50 Haring subway drawings, and managed 100 more as part of shared stewardship on behalf of private clients. The point is not only quantity, but proximity. Handling that many works builds up expertise in the materials, condition, iconography, and documentation. Do you exhibit your own collection publicly? Yes. Works from the Trimper Gallery collection have been exhibited in museums in the United States and were recently shown at the Moco Museum in London. Four additional major institutional exhibitions are planned for 2026. Alejandro Eduardo Trimper is a collector, dealer, and scholar specializing in Keith Haring’s subway drawings. He is owner of Trimper Gallery, a global online art gallery, also on Incollect.com Keith Haring, Three Eye’d Monster Praying Figures , 1980–1985. Chalk on paper, 44.2 x 60 in., courtesy of Trimper Gallery.