Done
Chicago, IL, United States
Auction Details
Tattoo Flash and Underground Art
Potter & Potter Auctions
Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to announce a landmark auction of tattoo art and memorabilia to be held April 9, 2026. This sale celebrates both the rich history of early-twentieth century tattooing and the life and legacy of legendary tattooer and underground cultural luminary Jonathan Shaw.
The auction features over 150 lots of tattoo flash sheets from the hands of old-school masters (Bert Grimm, Cliff Raven), alongside rare and personally inscribed material from the lives and careers of Charles Bukowski, Johnny Depp, and R. Crumb.
Among the most popular artforms of the modern era, tattoo art, flash, and memorabilia has become wildly collectible in recent years. These offerings from Shaw?s collection ? among the best of its kind ? are expected to fetch more than $250,000.00 at the fall of the auctioneer?s hammer.
Founder of New York City?s oldest tattoo shop, Fun City Tattoo, Shaw is widely recognized as an authority on tattoo history. His lifelong preservation of the medium?s material culture is chronicled in his critically acclaimed memoir, Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist (Turner, 2017), a record of his singular journey from the cultural underbelly to the mainstream, chronicling the forces that helped propel tattooing into broader public consciousness. Shaw?s client list included names like Johnny Depp, The Cure, The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, Marilyn Manson, Orlando Bloom, Tupac Shakur, and Jim Jarmusch.
The auction will be held live at Potter & Potter?s gallery at 5001 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago and simultaneously streamed live on potterauctions.com.
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0078: Removing An Un-Wanted Tattoo: by Coney Island Joe's Cover-Up Method, ca. 1960s/70sEst. $1,000-$1,800Lot Passed
SOLD
0083: Seventeen Flash Designs by Bob Shaw, Bert Grimm’s Tattoo, Long Beach Pike, 1960sEst. $1,500-$2,000
SOLD
0084: Devil Girl and other Tattoo Flash Designs by Bob Shaw. Long Beach, ca. 1980s.Est. $1,000-$2,000
SOLD
0093: Bob Shaw Eight Design Flash Sheet. The Velvet Touch Tattooing by The Shaw Boys. 1980s.Est. $900-$1,300
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