Rick Griffin

Silver Gel Image of Legendary Fillmore Artist Rick Griffin, Gene Anthony Photographer, N8ENE Working on his iconic artwork of "Flying Eyeball" (BG 140 Jimi Hendrix - signed on print by Anthony. Accompanied by the original BG 140 postcard showing "Flying Eyeball" artwork. Archivally matted and framed. 11"h x 14"w

Dylan & The Dead original Rick Griffin album artwork, owned and signed by Jerry Garcia, with an original, signed photograph by Herb Greene Signed by Jerry on the verso. Acrylic on paper, matted, glazed and framed; light warping to paper. One of at least two original renderings of the Dylan & The Dead artwork created for the 1986/1987 tour and live album of the same name, featuring Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. Griffin often did more than one version of major pieces to play around with shading and highlights. This particular rendering is not the published version, but was probably the runner-up, as it was gifted directly to Jerry Garcia by Rick Griffin. Together with a "Bob Dylan & Grateful Dead" poster, designed and photographed by Herb Greene. Signed "HGreene" in lower, right margin, with "c 1987 Grateful Dead Productions" in lower left margin. Glazed and framed. In good condition. Provenance: letter from Annette Flowers, describing how Jerry signed the reverse of the image and gifted it to her 19 x 24 in. (artwork); 16 x 20 in. (photograph); 16 x 20 in. (poster) The poster that is included in this lot is formerly the property of Dick Latvala.

Rick Griffin: two surfing cartoons - 'King andtwo surfers' and 'Melting surfboard', pen and ink with blue pencil, one withprinting annotations and signed, matted and framed together, image 7 x 6¼in overall Rick Griffin Surfing and Skateboarding Cartoons: Rick's family moved to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1958, when hewas introduced to surfing and the surfing lifestyle. Particularlyinspired by the cartoons in 'Mad' magazine, his earliestprofessional work was drawing cartoons on the walls of the GregNoll Surf Shop, Hermosa Beach, payment for which was a new board.In summer 1960 he met John Severson, owner of the bi-monthly'Surfer' magazine, following which Rick was given a cartoon spreadfor the March 1961 issue of the magazine. He became a regularcontributor and then a staff artist. After graduating in June 1962,Rick took on a permanent job with 'Surfer' and created the iconiccomic-strip character of Murphy. In October 1963 Rick was involvedin a car accident, with serious injuries to this left shoulder andface. The damage to his face led to him wearing a pirate-stylepatch over his left eye. He incorporated himself into cartoons forthe magazine, in the outlandish 'Griffin & StonerAdventures'. Steve Barlotti, in an article in 'Surfer' (Vol.12, No.5, Winter2003) wrote: 'As early as 1963, Griffin at age 19 was already acultural surf star. His Murphy comic strips, debuted in the secondissue of 'Surfer' in early 1961, had proven wildly popular amongthe magazine's 50,000 avid subscribers. As John Severson's teenageprotégé, Griffin's career arc was steep and seemingly effortless. Acertain degree of rarified notoriety followed.'

RICK GRIFFIN Monument Valley Flying Eyeball: A Tribute to John Cipollina , c. 1990 Ink airbrush on paper. 34 x 56.2 cm. (13 3/8 x 22 1/8 in). The imagery in this painting is typical of Rick Griffin’’’’s artwork from 1988 to 1991, the flying eyeball being one of Griffin’’’’ s continuous motifs from his work in the 1960s and the Monument Valley images informed by a trip he had made to Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Griffin had recently designed a tribute poster for the wake of his good friend, John Cipollina, guitarist with Quicksilver Messenger Service, who died in May 1989. PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the Rick Griffin estate

Rick Griffin: Grateful Dead - Skeleton In Top Hat, gouache on celluloid, framed, 17¼ x 22¼in ; together with a Grateful Dead 25th Anniversary 'Without A Net' tour program, 1990, the front cover of which features this striking image In the fall of 1990 the Grateful Dead played the European leg of their 'Without A Net' tour. This was an important event for them, so an extensive advertising campaign was mounted, with Rick being asked to create the relevant art. Excited about the project, he produced a visual tour package which comprised one piece of art for a tour poster, another for a program cover and a third piece which was used for the album cover when the live recordings of the concerts was released. The program cover featured a skeleton dressed in a top hat and tuxedo to serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the festivities. When Rick first started to develop this skeleton image for the program cover he probably created this piece as he worked out the idea of the skeleton head, with the spotlight circle behind, and for deciding on the lettering layout. This particular lettering is a remarkable example of Rick's abstract calligraphy and captures his first spontaneous ideas for its structure. In the final version the lettering, as reproduced on the program cover, although striking and more legible, is not as adventureome and innovative as the lettering in the piece offered here. The rendition of the skull is also noteworthy; this was executed with spontaneous but sure strokes, and shows Rick's ability to eliminate unwanted detail and put across an idea in abstract terms. This shift towards his personal form of abstraction was something he was moving towards during the later period of his career.