Friday, August 28, 2009

Macabrely Beautiful

It's always fun to see sources and inspirations. This is a fairly famous poster for the Grateful Dead concert at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco in 1966. It recycled an illustration by Edmund J. Sullivan for Quatrain XXVI of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1859. 

Both uses are striking and macabrely beautiful.

Poster by Mouse Studios, 1966

Book illustration by Edmund J. Sullivan, 1859

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise
To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies;
One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies;
The Flower that once has blown for ever dies.

No comments: