Keith Haring and George Condo first met in the early 1980s, through mutual friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, and remained close until Haring’s death in 1990. Several of Condo’s most significant works from this period, including Dancing to Miles (1985) now in the collection of the Broad Foundation, were painted in Haring’s East Village studio. For Haring, Condo represented the height of intellectualism and sophistication. As Gil Vazquez, board president of the Keith Haring Foundation, recalls, "George was the quintessential artiste. He had an apartment in Paris, a hot girlfriend, no furniture, cigarette in one hand and drink in the other.”

Haring greatly admired Condo and his work, often referring to Condo as “my favorite painter.” It was not only Condo’s art but also his approach to life that Haring admired. While coming to terms with his AIDS diagnosis, Haring wrote in his journals about an interview with Condo he had recently read: “There is one question George is asked about LIFE and ART and which is more important and George said ART is more important because it is immortal. This struck a very deep note inside me… This is why my activities and projects are so important now. TO DO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I’m sure that what will live on after I die is important enough to make sacrifices of my personal living and leisure time now. WORK IS ALL I HAVE and ART IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN LIFE.”