Doors; Sparrow; Moscoso, Victor; Hillyard, Roger; van Meter, Ben

Original Concert Poster: Doors, Sparrow ("Annabelles Butterfly Dance," May 12-13, 1967)

San Francisco, CA: Family Dog Productions, 1967. First Edition. Single Sheet. A poster (appx. 14" x 20") announcing a "Dance Concert" entitled "Annabelles Butterfly Dance" (at lower image) with performances by the Doors, along with the Sparrow, during May 12-13, 1967 at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. The great Spanish-American artist Victor Moscoso (b. 1936) created the artwork & graphics reproduced here, & "Moscoso" in facsimile cursive handwriting is found at lower blue border between thinner pink & orange image borders near/at right corners thereof (see image). Also credited for "Lights" are "Van Meter & Hillyard." Roger Hillyard (b. 1942) was highly involved with the exemplary psychedelic light shows of this era, later became the proprietor of a popular coffee shop, & most recently the practicing resident of a Zen Buddhist center- all in San Francisco. Van Meter (b. 1941) was also a major light show producer & experimental filmmaker at this time, & still engages in cutting-edge creativity as of this writing. According to the (in this case especially) Talmudic & much-amended & updated scholarship regarding this poster, we believe this copy to be a second printing, with absence of barely discernable bands as described by King: "The original is identified by a horizontal band 1/8" wide running parallel to below and touching the lowest pink border. This band in the blue area is a very faintly darker shade of blue than all the other blue of the poster. This band is most visible beginning just above the "s" in "outlets" at the bottom and running to the left edge of the paper. There is also a similar band 1/16" wide and 1&1/2" long or longer extending vertically (at a right angle) upward from the first band in the left margin." (pg. 124) We strained to find these bands, but could not discern them. Third Minds are invited to magnify our image at this area to see if they can discern this (as King basically admits) maddeningly subtle indication of a first printing. This copy does have a tiny dot just to the left of "M" in "Moscoso" noted above- a point common only to the first & second printings of this poster. King, FD-61-RP-2, pgs. 123-126. King writes: "The central image is a picture of a woman with two different color pairs of wings, the upper pair blue, the lower pair red. This poster is designed so that if the viewer looks at it through one blue lens and one red lens and alternates blinking eyes, it appears that the wings are moving up and down and the woman is dancing. This effect is achieved because each lens makes one color disappear by filtering it out. This effect can also be achieved by alternately shining red and blue lights on the poster. A number of other posters by Victor Moscoso were designed to produce this effect, but this one is the one best-known for it. The words "Annabelle's (sic) Butterfly Dance" appear near the bottom of the image. The image dates from the mid 1890s. It is from an early motion picture made by Thomas Edison of a dancer named Annabelle Whitford. This is the third of Victor Moscoso's four Doors posters in the Family Dog series. Each of these employed electric, vibrating colors and all of them are much sought-after and expensive." (pg. 126) See also our item No.s 5587, 5667 (the first & second Moscoso Doors posters referred to above by King). Another particularly iconic exemplar of Moscoso's psychedelic style that was hurtling to its zenith during the "Summer of Love" soon to take place that year, in its penultimately rarest (or very rarest?) contemporary form. From the collection of Dion Wright (b. 1937), a highly respected artiste & sculptor who was at the center of the scene that produced this & the many other outstanding posters that symbolize a legendary time & place (see wright's memoir, Tempus Fugitive, item No. 5008). In our sharp (if dazzled) & experienced estimation, this poster is in relatively very fine condition with only a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners esp. lower left corner with miniscule loss of blue surface paper- the entire printed recto surface appears bright & substantially mint. One tiny blue dot near center of upper outer margin, & two even tinier white dots at upper & lower outer left side margin, are not mentioned anywhere in this King entry & are undoubtedly miniscule flaws as issued. This item is too delicate to be rolled & must be shipped flat to assure no damage, therefore extra shipping costs will be required. Very Fine. [Item #5746]

Price: $600.00