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Artworks by noted psychedelic artists go to NYC auction

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:53 PM EDT, May 14, 2008

Monument Valley Eyeball, 1990-91, auctioned by Bonhams.

A collection of original art by noted psychedelic artists, depicting some of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll, is going on the auction block Wednesday.

Paintings, printing plates, ink drawings and painted cel vinyls of The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and many other iconic groups are represented in the Peter Golding collection at Bonhams

New York auction house.

Golding, a British designer of the first stretch jeans, embarked on his collection after picking up a hand-drawn poster at a 1967 "happening" in London's Hyde Park. He acquired many of the works from the studio files of many of poster artists of the 1960s: Rick Griffin, considered the genre's grand master, Gary Grimshaw, Alton Kelley, Dennis Larkins and Stanley 'Mouse' Miller.

Over the years, Golding has lent items from his collection to major museums, including the Tate Liverpool in 2005 and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 2007 for the traveling "Summer of Love" exhibition.

Golding, who personally knew many of the artists, said in an interview that he began assembling the collection for its "cultural aspect."

"It's urban art, contemporary art. Now it's considered pure art," he said.

The auction contains 164 items, the bulk of Golding's collection -- original artworks that often led to the final album covers and concert posters.

Among the highlights is a rare uncut printer's poster for the Jimi Hendrix Experience at Fillmore Auditorium and Winterland in 1968 in San Francisco. It's estimated at $250,000 to $350,000.

A 1987 Pink Floyd framed painting, signed by Kelley and commissioned by the band as a poster for the "Momentary Lapse of Reason' tour, has a pre-sale estimate of $25,000 to $35,000,

An acrylic on canvas by Griffin of the Grateful Dead's 'Without a Net' tour" is estimated at $125,000 to $175,000. A mixed media on board by Miller and Kelley for the Grateful Dead's unrealized Terrapin Station concert hall has a $100,000-$150,000 estimate.

Other bands and performers represented in the artworks include

Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Clapton, The Sex Pistols, The Who, Alice Cooper, Sly and the Family Stone, Ike and Tina Turner, Metallica and Guns and Roses.

Many items are priced at just a few thousand dollars.