NEW YORK – Vintage rock concert posters provide an artful form of proof. If you saw the show, it reinforces the fact that you were there; if you weren’t, it delivers artful evidence that it happened (or, in some cases, that it was supposed to happen).
On August 5, starting at 8 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will conduct a 311-lot sale of Vintage Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll Posters. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.
First among the highlights is an unmistakably psychedelic lithograph concert poster by artist Joe Gomez. It touts a three-day November 1967 stint by Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. By that time, the band was enjoying a wave of popularity following their standout performance at the Monterey Pop Festival that June and the release of their eponymous studio album in August. Janis Joplin had joined the band as lead singer in June 1966, but she receives no specific billing on this poster, though the entity responsible for the show’s lighting received mention. Measuring 14in by 20 in, the poster carries an estimate of $50-$100.
Another notable lithograph concert poster advertises a February 1978 appearance by Eric Clapton and his band at the Oakland Coliseum. Artist Randy Tuten pictured the British guitarist in a cameo to the right and evidently hand-lettered much of the information in the lower half of the poster design. Printed in a brown or sepia ink on a cream-colored background, the poster is estimated at $100-$200.
Yet another powerful vintage concert poster comes from the hand of artist Lee Conklin. The 1968 lithograph was created to announce a Fillmore West show headlined by Santana and Procol Harum. Conklin pushed the limits of legibility with his design, which presented the basic concert information via artistically warped letters, interspersed with human faces. The compelling red and black image carries an estimate of $125-$250.
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