Auction Name: 2026 April 10 Concert Posters Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 26131

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/7475*26131

FD-26 Grateful Dead 1966 "Skeleton & Roses" Restored First-Printing Avalon Ballroom Concert Poster Graded 9.0. An original first-printing specimen of the famed FD-26 "Skeleton & Roses" concert poster that has been professionally restored to present as the sublime artifact of this famous poster that it is. Please see the previous lot's description to pick up many more details about this most coveted of psychedelic rock posters.

For poster collectors, rock-music fans, pop culture historians, art lovers and just the curious with a good sense of taste, this poster checks every box. The Grateful Dead. San Francisco. The mid-60's. Unforgettable artwork. Legendary graphic artists. Charisma. Colors. Rarity of a first printing. What more could one ask for?

How seminal was this time in the Dead's history? Well, just two weeks later their first Warner Bros. recording contract was drawn up. And three weeks after these shows, LSD would become illegal in California... but at this moment, you couldn't be busted for it. Imagine the freedom!

Mouse & Kelley's sublime psychedelic lettering and gorgeous red & blue coloring sealed the deal, creating a four-color masterpiece that looks better with each passing decade. (The other two colors being black, used for the Grateful Dead's name, and white, used for the skeleton, Family Dog logo and "Avalon.") This artistic stroke of genius marked the very first appearance of the skeleton & roses iconography in Grateful Dead lore, a legendary motif which still shines brightly 59 years later. Just a month earlier, the Dead's Avalon appearance was advertised on a Family Dog poster (FD-22) by depicting... a stoned Frankenstein. Really?

Measures 14 1/8" x 19 7/8" and grades to restored 9.0 condition. COA from Heritage Auctions.

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