Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$7,475.00
Starting bid: $1.00
This poster is beautifully signed in black ink by the late great Jay Lynch!
This delightful Janis Joplin poster was one of the few contributions to the concert poster universe by one of the greatest illustrators of the 20th century Jay Lynch. Jay was one of the great American satirists. He was perhaps best known for his contribution to the underground comix movement of the 1960’s but the scope and influence of his work reached far beyond that. Jay Lynch was a colleague of the more famous R. Crumb and collaborated with Crumb when he was editor of the underground comix series Bijou Funnies.
Lynch did a huge amount of work for the Topps trading card company. He was the creative force behind the Wacky Packages and Garbage Pail Kids sticker series. At Topps he worked closely with other top cartoonists like Art Speigelman Kim Dietch Drew Friedman & John Pound. His mainstream work also included contributions to Mad and Playboy Magazine as well as countless underground papers and humor publications.
I (Glen Trosch) was contacted by Jay in the spring of 2016 he was interested in selling posters from his personal collection. He had just completed donating the bulk of his comic and illustration art to the University of Ohio and wanted me to buy his poster collection. At the time I did not realize that Jay was terminally ill and that he was making arrangements to make sure his belongings would be well cared for after his death. I spent two amazing afternoons with Jay at his home in Candor NY in the summer of 2016. He left this world the following March and as expected his passing generated nationwide headlines.
I had been a collector of Wacky Packages as a child and a fan of Underground comix since I was a teenager so this opportunity was incredibly exciting. Jay spent hours digging out posters for me and patiently answered all of my geeky fan boy questions. Jay was a true historian and student of American comic art and satire he generously reflected on his life and associations with legends like Harvey Kurtzman Will Elder Skip Williamson and Crumb. This is an experience I will never forget.
The phrase “Miracle Poster” gets tossed around from time to time with vintage material however we feel this specimen deserves the label more than any other in our recent history. Not only is this the FIRST time we’ve offered this seldom seen issue in our auction but this example is easily the FINEST example to ever appear at ANY public auction! This immaculate specimen was chosen and kept perfect for the past 49 years by the legendary artist Jay Lynch as his personal copy. This lot is accompanied by a letter signed by Jay Lynch attesting to the fact that this was his personal copy. (See attached photo)
This Janis Joplin concert took place in Jay Lynch's hometown of Chicago and he added some of his off-beat comix characters to the design as well.
Collector Alert! In addition to being Jay Lynch's personal copy there is another MAJOR FACTOR that makes this lot TRULY UNIQUE. At the time of the concert Janis had broken away from Big Brother & The Holding Company and was now leading her “Kosmic Blues Band” with a new album just released.
As explained by Mr. Lynch in the letter that accompanies this lot (see attached photo) almost ALL of these Janis Joplin Chicago Auditorium posters were printed on the back of Ampex stereo tape advertisements and were folded and distributed at Laundromats 7-11s and other locations.
The lot offered here was NOT folded and does NOT have an advertisement on the back. It was hand selected by the artist for his own portfolio. As such this is the rare concert poster with massive crossover appeal.
We are aware of just ONE other auction appearance of this Janis poster that does not have the advertisment printed on the reverse. That copy realized $6063 over 6 years ago in February 2012.
The winning bidder will be acquiring an ultra rare poster of one of music's brightest stars that was designed and saved as the personal copy of one of the most legendary underground illustrators of all time!
Estimate - $5 000 - $10 000+
Poster – Janis Joplin Chicago Auditorium Theatre Jay Lynch 1969
Grade – PAE Mint “97”
Bands/Bill – Janis Joplin
Venue – Auditorium Theatre
City – Chicago IL
Date – 11/23/69
Dimensions – 17 1/4” 21 1/4”
Printing – OP-1 Original Pre-Concert First Printing
Series/Promoter – Twenty Second Century Productions
Artist – Jay Lynch
Condition Details - Superb Museum Quality that is un-improvable in every way. Of course there are no nicks cuts tears or pinholes! 100% Original with no restoration. The personal copy of legendary artist Jay Lynch. Accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity from Jay Lynch attesting to the fact this was his personal copy.
*****This poster is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****