# Who did these 1960s artworks?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** arts-crafts\
**Created:** [January 3, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548 "2021-01-03T00:26:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/1 "2021-01-03T00:26:54Z")

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I am a big fan of psychedelic artwork with a special love for concert posters & flyers, especially for the lettering. So I was watching a brief video\* about this when something caught my eye.  
[![](https://i.ibb.co/QjyHkKX/Who-cat.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/QjyHkKX/Who-cat.png)  
[![](https://i.ibb.co/mv2nZgY/Who-flying-pig.png) ](https://i.ibb.co/mv2nZgY/Who-flying-pig.png)  
I recognize that style but can’t think who the heck it is. This is from the late 1960s in San Francisco. Not Rick Griffin or Stanley Mouse or Wes Wilson or Victor Moscono or Alton Kelly… I think I know the name, I just can’t come up with it.

Anyone recognize this artist’s style?

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/2 "2021-01-03T00:33:01Z")

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Here’s the video I was watching, btw. These are seen at 4:50.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9vuqI2v2IRs/maxresdefault.jpg "Where the 1960s "psychedelic" look came from") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vuqI2v2IRs)

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/3 "2021-01-03T00:56:01Z")

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Are those acid blotters? They look like Alice/LSD references.

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/4 "2021-01-03T00:57:38Z")

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No, those are posters. The numbers appear to be their prices. There’s also a tree, a sun and a red cat in the video clip; I just didn’t take screenshots of them.

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/5 "2021-01-03T01:08:13Z")

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Looks like the kind of silk screen art created freehand with an xacto knife.

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**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/6 "2021-01-03T01:56:07Z")

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I don’t have an answer for you, but I watched the video. Thanks for the flashback.

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**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/7 "2021-01-03T01:57:06Z")

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It reminds me a little of **Yellow Submarine** , so maybe Heinz Eidelmann?

[edited to add] …or Peter Max?

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**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/8 "2021-01-03T02:09:48Z")

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It lacks the colors that Max is known for. It shows the bewildering anthropomorphism present in a lot of the Yellow Submarine artwork but other than that there are a lot of differences.

The lines here are really strong, dominating the composition, for one thing. The crude style differs as well so I don’t think it’s Edelman.

Unfortunately, googling for this one is difficult.

I’ve just spent an enjoyable hour or so looking thru _The Art of Rock_ and although I found other works that are on display alongside the mystery works in that video, I didn’t see those particular things or anything else that was indisputably by the same artist.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/9 "2021-01-03T02:49:22Z")

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[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/BlueMeanies.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/BlueMeanies.jpg)

By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, [File:BlueMeanies.jpg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60598191)

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**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/10 "2021-01-03T09:13:18Z")

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The style reminds me–though not precisely–of Arnold Arnold, writer and illustrator of [The Big Book of Tongue Twisters and Double Talk](https://www.amazon.com/Book-Tongue-Twisters-Double-Talk/dp/0394909224/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tongue+twisters+and+double+talk&qid=1609664927&sr=8-1). (He did not draw the cover in the link.) Beyond that, yeah, the winged creature looks a bit like a Blue Meanie.

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**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/11 "2021-01-04T04:47:10Z")

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I did find another image of the cat [here](https://imgur.com/anRPpvV), but it’s not much help.

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**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/12 "2021-01-19T19:23:26Z")

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Hey ! Any news on this ?  
It’s been driving me nuts.  
I Know i’ve seen them, I think i might have them in a book  
somewhere … but i can’t find it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/13 "2021-01-19T19:55:02Z")

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No progress on my part. I found the red cat on a bunch of websites but no artist or context for it other than it appearing amongst iconic '60s imagery.

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/14 "2021-01-19T20:37:17Z")

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[Blotter Barn](http://www.blotterbarn.com/). A museum of acid blotter art.

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**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/15 "2021-01-19T23:59:44Z")

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Seem to me like adaptations of some fantastic creatures from medieval art. They tended to be in profile and/or have human-like faces.  
[![](https://blogs.bu.edu/core/files/2014/06/ele.jpg) ](https://blogs.bu.edu/core/files/2014/06/ele.jpg)

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/16 "2021-01-20T05:45:58Z")

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> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> [Blotter Barn](http://www.blotterbarn.com/). A museum of acid blotter art.

I don’t know anything about art but I know what I like.

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**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/17 "2021-01-20T17:43:43Z")

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There’s a lot of Maurice Sendak in it to me.

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**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/18 "2021-01-20T18:11:24Z")

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That’s what came to mind for me too. If these are not directly taken from medieval art, they do seem to be inspired by it.

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**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/19 "2021-01-20T18:39:13Z")

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Gargoylesque

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548/20 "2021-01-20T21:43:21Z")

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They definitely have a Sendak vibe to them, but I haven’t found them among his works yet.

What I like about them is that they are so simple they are iconic. The primitive and bold lines help ground the figures and by offering evidence of human effort in the creation of the art also helps to humanize the figures.

But so far I can’t figure out who created them. 😃

Many thanks for all who’ve offered help eh.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-these-1960s-artworks/929548.md?page=2)
