Not currently on display at the V&A

Bill Graham Presents

Poster
1968 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Fillmore in San Francisco is a historic music venue, named after its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard. Known as the Fillmore Auditorium in the mid-1960s, concert promoter Bill Graham began a series of concerts featuring bands from the counterculture of the time. In 1968, due to his spiralling success, he moved to a larger venue which he named Fillmore West. Having closed in 1971, and after extensive repair work to fix earthquake damage, Graham's was revived when Live Nation reopened the original Fillmore venue in 1994.

San Francisco in the mid-1960s was the hub of the LSD and Hippie scene and the cultural and political rebellion of 1967's Summer of Love. The resulting influence of these factors on the artists of the area created the fantastic psychedelic posters of the Fillmore. Art dealer Jacaeber Kastor said of the posters, "They couldn't just tell you the information about the show. They had to tell you what kind of people you might meet, what kind of far out trip you might have or perhaps even reveal the mysteries of the universe. Wow. Quantum mechanics, visual mudwrestling, Acid test pop quiz on a phone pole!"

This poster advertised two gigs. The first featured Moby Grape, a band known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music. The second was headlined by Country Joe and the Fish, a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBill Graham Presents (series title)
Materials and techniques
Lithography on paper
Brief description
Poster advertising Moby Grape, The Hour Glass and The United States of America, performing May 2 and 4, and Country Joe and the Fish, The Hour Glass and The United States of America performing May 3, 1968 at Fillmore West, San Francisco.
Physical description
Poster advertising Moby Grape, The Hour Glass and The United States of America, performing May 2 and 4, and Country Joe and the Fish, The Hour Glass and The United States of America performing May 3, 1968 at Fillmore West, San Francisco. White background with pen and watercolour surrealist illustrations and typography.
Dimensions
  • Height: 53.3cm
  • Width: 35cm
Style
Credit line
Given by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Object history
Transferred as part of a collection from the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, in 1985.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
The Fillmore in San Francisco is a historic music venue, named after its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard. Known as the Fillmore Auditorium in the mid-1960s, concert promoter Bill Graham began a series of concerts featuring bands from the counterculture of the time. In 1968, due to his spiralling success, he moved to a larger venue which he named Fillmore West. Having closed in 1971, and after extensive repair work to fix earthquake damage, Graham's was revived when Live Nation reopened the original Fillmore venue in 1994.

San Francisco in the mid-1960s was the hub of the LSD and Hippie scene and the cultural and political rebellion of 1967's Summer of Love. The resulting influence of these factors on the artists of the area created the fantastic psychedelic posters of the Fillmore. Art dealer Jacaeber Kastor said of the posters, "They couldn't just tell you the information about the show. They had to tell you what kind of people you might meet, what kind of far out trip you might have or perhaps even reveal the mysteries of the universe. Wow. Quantum mechanics, visual mudwrestling, Acid test pop quiz on a phone pole!"

This poster advertised two gigs. The first featured Moby Grape, a band known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music. The second was headlined by Country Joe and the Fish, a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, and also regarded as a seminal influence to psychedelic rock.
Bibliographic references
  • Lemke, Gayle The Art of the Fillmore 1966-71, Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 1999
  • Poster Collecting. Fillmore Poster. 06 August 2010. https://www.fillmoreposter.com/products1.php?cat=BG
Other number
BG 118 - Bill Graham's numbering system
Collection
Accession number
S.1279-2010

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Record createdDecember 16, 2010
Record URL
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