Art & Beauty Magazine: Drawings by R. Crumb (limited edition) Numbers 1, 2 & 3

Limited edition published by David Zwirner Books in 2016

This beautiful book printed in Italy reproduces the first two issues of Art & Beauty magazine with the third issue included as part of the book. Published on the occasion of Crumb's exhibition at David Zwirner's gallery London. Four hundred special editions were printed that come in a slipcase with a signed bookplate. Art & Beauty is devoted to Crumb's notable depictions of women.

Crumb de l'underground à la Genèse

In front of the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris

Exhibition handout, Signed R. Crumb

Exhibition catalog

Exhibition poster, signed R. Crumb

The Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris held what is possibly the largest ever retrospective of Crumb's work. It was mind-bogging to see all the stuff he has done over the years. Really quite prolific! The accompanying catalog is exhaustive featuring a repertoire of his main works.

Libération

Cover for Libération. 28 January 2010.

A Crumb drawing used for the cover of an issue of the French newspaper Libération. The entire issue uses cartoons instead of photos, in honor of the annual Angoulême comics festival. This is the second Crumb drawing for a Libération cover.

Quiet Study

Robert Crumb, Quiet Study, 2009, Etching, 12 x 15 inches (embossed area 9 x 6 inches, image 7.8 x 4.8 inches), Number 25 of edition of 45, signed "R. Crumb '09" lower right.

Wildwood etching released in November 2009. Supposedly one of Crumb's favorite drawings. Appears in Odds & Ends; originated as a 1990 calendar for Carlson & Turner bookstore (where the title is listed as "The Book Reader").

W The Art Issue

Robert Crumb. 2009. "Varieties of Women." W, November.

Crumb is one of the artists profiled in the November 2009 W magazine art issue. Beginning on page 134, the 15 page spread reproduces various drawings of women Crumb has done over the years.

"Book of Genesis" Conversation, B&N New York

Crumb and Françoise Mouly at Barnes & Noble Union Square - New York. I dragged my 15-year old daughter along and she actually found it interesting!


Robert Crumb. 2009. The Book of Genesis. Norton. Green sticker "AUTOGRAPHED COPY" on bottom left. Signed "R. Crumb N.Y.C. '09" on lower right of title page.

A video was made of the event:

Happy Birthday

My daughter made me a Crumb inspired birthday card! Our daughters' first name is a quirk I share with Crumb.

FESTIVAL M.A.D. IN SAUVE

Robert Crumb. 2009. Festival M.A.D. In Sauve. Poster. 17 x 12 inches. Signed "R. Crumb '09" lower right. © Robert Crumb.

A poster Crumb made for a music, art and dance festival in a French village. Just love the cartoon characters, the arrangement, the color and the lettering.

Keep on Czechin'...

Big Ben Bookshop, Prague, Czech Republic

R. Crumb, Aline Kominsky Crumb, Gilbert Shelton's hand and me at the Big Ben Bookshop in Prague for a book signing during the Prague Writers' Festival.

After the signing, Gilbert Shelton popped into "Fat Boy's Bar" next door and signed the postcard of the Fabulous Freak Brothers (the Aussie owner of the bar is on the right).

Gilbert Shelton. Cartoon used for a "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" postcard. 10 1/2 x 5 13/16 inches. Signed "FOR MICHAEL-Gilbert Shelton PRAGUE 2009" lower right. © & ™ Gilbert Shelton.

The back of the postcard listed a web site-www.grassrootsthemove.com. I checked it out and found out that some British filmmakers are making an animated movie about Shelton's Freak Brothers. A pilot clip is below.




A black T-shirt with a spin on the famous "Keep on Truckin'..." motif was created for the Prague Writers' Festival ("Keep on Czechin'...") and I was kindly given one by the Big Ben staff :)

Mr. and Mrs. Crumb gave a talk on Thursday, 11 June 2009 at the Laterna Magika Theater. A clip is below.

Genesis redrawn

Robert Crumb. “The Book of Genesis,” The New Yorker, June 8, 2009, p. 90. Signed "R. Crumb 2009" on lower left of p. 91.

An extract of the upcoming Book of Genesis published in the 8 June 2009 edition of the New Yorker.

Underground Classics

Robert Crumb. "Fight the Big Companies..." [Cover] In Denis Kitchen and James Danky. 2009. Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix. Co-edition with Chazen Museum of Art. Abrams ComicArts. Signed "Dennis Kitchen 5/5/09" along with drawing on title page. Also signed by R. Crumb, A. Kominsky Crumb and Gilbert Shelton on pages 61, 92 and 119.

The catalog for the exhibition at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, May 2 to July 12, 2009. This is a comprehensive catalog with works of all of the major American comix artists. There are also several essays that put the work into the socio-cultural context of the time as well as a number of photos that put a face behind the cartoonists. Essential reference for any comix lover.

Flag of the European Union

“The circle of gold stars represents solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe...There are twelve stars because the number twelve is traditionally the symbol of perfection, completeness and unity. ”—"The European Flag" http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/emblem/index_en.htm

Robert Crumb. 2009. Flag of the European Union. Color computer print. 11 3/4 by 8 1/4 inches. Signed "R. Crumb Prague 2009" in lower right.

Crumb was commissioned to do a "flag" for the Prague Writers' Festival. Michael March, the President of the festival, gave me the copy above which Mr. Crumb kindly signed when I met him in Prague. The flag was hung in the interior of the Laterna Magika theater during the festival.

Komiks Fest! revue

A Czech comics journal I picked up when I was in Prague. This issue has a feature on R. Crumb. It includes the Czech version of Crumb's "My Trouble with Women", a Gilbert Shelton piece, the front and back cover by Crumb and an ad for the upcoming Prague Writer Festival where both Crumb and Shelton will appear. Mr. Crumb kindly signed it for me.



Crumb, R. 2009. "My Troubles with Women (1980). " Trans. Richard Podany. Komiks Fest! revue, April.

Robert Crumb presenting Janet Joplin with Cheap Thrills

Drew Friedman. 2009. Cheap Thrills. Pigment ink on heavyweight (310g) natural white rag paper. Image area is 13-3/4" high x 13-5/8" wide on an untrimmed 22" x 17" sheet. Signed "11/30-Cheap Thrills-Drew Friedman" on the bottom. © Drew Friedman.

Drew Friedman did this image of Crumb presenting his Cheap Thrills album cover to Janis Joplin, an incident taking place in 1968. The scene is described here. Friedman is a long time colleague of Crumb, contributed to Weirdo magazine and counts Crumb as his favorite artist. The Friedman technique is ingenious and detailed with masterful daubs of color to simulate a photo. The technical details regarding the print production is here.

A Short History of America

Robert Crumb. 2009. Print. A Short History of America. Giclee color print. 24 x 20 inches (paper size) 22 x 15 inches (image size). Limited edition. Signed "59/500" in lower right.

Crumb's iconic drawing of the transformation of America. A fair number of reproductions have been made over the years. It has also been transformed into a YouTube video to the music of Joni Mitchell (whose portrait was done by artist Mary Fleener).

☜Robert Crumb. "A Short History of America." CoEvolution Quarterly. Fall 1979. # 23. pp 21-24.

The original came out as a four page black & white spread in the CoEvolution Quarterly. The answer to "WHAT NEXT?!!" in the last panel is answered almost a decade later in a back cover for an issue of The Whole Earth Review.

There's a black and white YouTube version set to piano music.

Flesh & Blood Comics

Robert Crumb. 2009. "Flesh and Blood Comics" in point d'ironie. October 2008. No. 45. 12 pages. This came out in an art "newspaper" published by French fashion designer agnès b. The editor is Hans-Ulrich Obrist who wrote a book about Crumb. Some 100,000 free copies were distributed around the world in agnès b. boutiques and other locations. There is also a web version.



point d'ironie n°45

Underground

Robert Crumb. 2008. [ICA Underground Exhibit]. Poster. 24 x 36 inches. (Original drawing is circa 1968 and appears on the cover of R. Crumb. 1997. Sketchbook. Volume 6 Mid 1968 to Mid '69.

Poster for the Underground exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in the University of Pennsylvania. For details see. The picture used for the poster is from Crumb's 1968-69 sketchbook. It features a trio of happy, round, Renoirish women reminiscent of other joyful big-boned women Crumb has drawn through the years. The back of the poster lists the pieces in the exhibit.

Cheap Thrills

Robert Crumb. 2008 (original 1968). Cheap Thrills. Giclee print. Numbered "147/500" in lower right. Paper Size: 23" x 24" Image Size: 17" x 17".

Crumb's iconic Cheap Thrills cover for Janis Joplin and her Big Brother and the Holding Company band second album. Each song is illustrated with a different cartoon. The lettering, drawing, coloring and overall composition are impeccable, showing off Crumb's skills at the peak of his "hippie" period.

La Famille D'Artistes Exposition CRUMB

Cornélius, une certaine façon de faire les livres

Robert Crumb. 2007. Cornélius, une certaine façon de faire les livres. Poster. 25 x 17 inches (framed).

Image for both a poster and book for the French publishing house Cornélius. The poster also advertises a Crumb exhibit held in the French town of Lorient from 23 March - 21 April 2007. The drawing is very similar to the Pepper & Stern Rare Books poster Crumb did some 25 years earlier. There are parallels between the two drawings as both were done for small book-related companies and both were made into book covers and posters. The man looking at the book is presumably Crumb. Unlike the black and white Pepper & Stern poster, the Cornélius one is colored, Crumb's hair and mustache are longer and whiter, he is wearing a robe instead of a jacket and slippers instead of shoes; the second man that was in the Pepper & Stern poster has disappeared, replaced by a stack of books (comparing the two drawings is like one of those games where two pictures are placed side by side and you have to find the differences).

The Cornélius book, entitled "ou l'art de la mouscaille et du pinaillage" outlines its publishing history and features works by a number of artists including several Crumb pieces that it published over the years. An interview with the comics editor of Cornélius is here.