Wes Wilson 1966 Original Signed Psychedelic Artwork for Righteous Bros. Concert Poster....

Description

SOME RIGHTEOUS HAND-DRAWN ARTWORK FROM THE DEAN OF S.F. POSTER ARTISTS

Wes Wilson 1966 Original Signed Psychedelic Artwork for Righteous Bros. Concert Poster. It's not very often Heritage has been able to offer the original one-of-a-kind artwork that produced psychedelic concert posters and handbills. It's our pleasure on this occasion to offer one from the late, great Wes Wilson, the dean of San Francisco concert-poster artists in whose footsteps every other poster artist seemed to follow.

This is the original, hand-drawn ink drawing for Wes's poster and handbill for the Righteous Brothers appearing at the University of San Francisco gymnasium on Saturday evening, November 19, 1966. Bill Medley & Bobby Hatfield were flying high at the moment on the strength of their world-beating #1 hit from earlier in the year, "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration," the biggest hit of their career.

As a bonus, this piece of original art has been signed by Wilson on both the front and the verso, in the latter case even calling it the "original poster art." There are other fun little annotations present, such as Wes noting that 500 posters and 5,000 handbills (!!) were to be printed. And it looks like he charged $100 to create the art and was looking for $6.00 to cover the cost of the ink.

We're also including in this lot a sheet of four uncut, fully printed handbills, a rarity in itself but which nicely illustrates the "2 colors" Wes's art was referring to (variations on purple & red).

To put this in context, on this same weekend Wilson had designed the BG-38 poster for Bill Graham, featuring the Grateful Dead playing at the Fillmore (a poster also in this sale). The ink drawing itself measures 8 1/4" x 12" on a board which measures 14" by 16 7/8", and grades to Very Good condition. From the Jacaeber Kastor Collection. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: The sheet of uncut handbills measures 11" x 17" and grades to unused mint condition.


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