About

The Art of R. Crumb
This blog presents my Robert Crumb art collection including book and magazine covers, posters and prints and other pieces. Crumb is a prolific artist—there are no less than three books cataloging his wide range of work. My taste runs to his “cute” hippie period and more recent work. What generally ties it together is Crumb's sharp but almost always humorous social criticism. Another vein of the collection is what I call his “book art”—a range of pieces dealing with his (and my) love of books. Crumb thinks the way I do and manages to crystalize it through his art in a way that deeply resonates with my mindset.

The intent is to provide a bit more background on the pieces. His artistic skills are amazing whether drawing, lettering, coloring or composing and where possible I try to shed some light on the technique. Many of the pieces have a “story”. These include commissioned items that he often meticulously researches and which is reflected in the art but cannot be fully appreciated unless the piece is studied in some detail. Another theme is the evolution of works that reappear in modified versions over time. Crumb's art is also often frequently linked to people. This includes collaborators such as his family and other comic artists (either in joint pieces such as the Wild Dog poster with Vincent Moscoso or through contributions to the same issues of magazines, newspapers or comix (e.g., Gilbert Shelton, Drew Friedman, Mary Fleener). This latter link has led me to the work of some other artists which are also included here. Connections between these various threads and different pieces are made through the labels in the blog.

It has been difficult to organize the collection sequentially. There is the issue of whether pieces should be sequenced by when they were first created, when they reappeared later (e.g., on a magazine cover or re-issued as a print) or when I acquired them. I kind of play it by ear by what seems to work for me.

Hopefully the blog adds to knowledge about Crumb's oeuvre and transmits some of the awe I have for this unique artist!