International Volunteer Day (Littmann P. 93) by Keith Haring depicts three figures against a vibrant yellow background and was created to commemorate the United Nations' International Volunteer Day in 1988.

The work presents a dynamic tableau of mutual support, with a central red figure embracing or being embraced by two flanking green figures, their circular heads and radiating lines suggesting both energy and benevolence. The work pulses with movement, each figure's contours defined by Haring's signature thick black outlines that create clean forms.

The work reflects Haring's commitment to accessible art with social purpose, coinciding with his increasing involvement in humanitarian causes during the late 1980s. The United Nations commission for International Volunteer Day allowed him to extend this advocacy to a global platform, creating an image that could transcend linguistic barriers through its universal visual appeal.

Formally, the work demonstrates Haring's mastery of colour relationships, with the complementary red and green figures creating visual tension against the brilliant yellow background. The overlapping forms suggest both physical embrace and collective unity, while the characteristic radiating lines around each figure's head evoke halos or energy fields, lending the work an almost sacred quality. The interlocking arrangement reinforces the theme of unity and the coming together of individuals into something bigger than themselves.

International Volunteer Day captures Haring's ability to distil complex social ideas into immediately legible imagery, functioning as a visual call to collective action while remaining firmly rooted in the artist’s most recognisable of styles.

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