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Object Timeline

1967

  • Work on this object began.

1979

  • We acquired this object.

2007

2013

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Poster, Otis Rush & His Chicago Blues Band, Grateful Dead, The Canned Heat Blues Band at The Fillmore

This is a Poster. It was designed by Wes Wilson and printed by West Coast Lithograph Co. and made for (as the client) Bill Graham and made for The Fillmore Auditorium. It is dated 1967 and we acquired it in 1979. Its medium is offset lithograph on white wove paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Between 1966 and 1968 Wes Wilson designed no less than 56 posters for the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, commissioned by Bill Graham. He completed them in only 14 months. This poster belongs to that series, designed for an Otis Rush, Grateful Dead and Canned Heat concert. Deformed bubble text, sinuous lines and pale colors produce an optical surge, suggesting the effects of hallucinatory drugs on the mind. This is reinforced by the contrasting presence of a face seen from profile, calm and composed, with one eye seemingly focused on something the spectator cannot fully grasp. The term “psychedelic” was first coined by psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond and aptly describes the visual effect of this design, representative of the emerging 1960’s subculture in San Francisco, to which Wilson made a significant contribution through his work. The impact of such posters influenced generations of graphic designers after him.

This object was donated by Mr. Leslie Schreyer and Mrs. Alice Schreyer. It is credited Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.

Our curators have highlighted 19 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Poster, Canned Heat
  • offset lithograph on white wove paper.
  • Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer.
  • 1979-34-5
  •

Its dimensions are

57 × 34.9 cm (22 7/16 × 13 3/4 in.)

It is signed

Printed in black ink, bottom: WES WILSON © 1967 BILL GRAHAM

It is inscribed

Printed in black ink, upper right: BILL GRAHAM PRESENTS IN SAN FRANCISCO; at bottom, directly underneath curving text: WES WILSON © 1967 BILL GRAHAM ∴ 51. PRINTED BY WEST COAST LITHOGRAPH CO.; across bottom: TICKETS SAN FRANCISCO: City Lights Bookstore; House of Richard; Bally Lo (Union Square); The Town Square (1318 Polk); S.F. State College (Hut T-1); Mnasidika; BERKELEY: Discount Records; / Shakespeare & Co.; Campus Records; SAN MATEO: Town and Country Records; SAN RAFAEL: Sherman Clay; SAUSALITO: The Tides Bookstore; CITY OF REDWOOD CITY: Redwood House of Music

Cite this object as

Poster, Otis Rush & His Chicago Blues Band, Grateful Dead, The Canned Heat Blues Band at The Fillmore; Designed by Wes Wilson (American, b. 1937); Printed by West Coast Lithograph Co.; Client: Bill Graham (American, b. Germany, 1931–1991); Made for The Fillmore Auditorium; offset lithograph on white wove paper; 57 × 34.9 cm (22 7/16 × 13 3/4 in.); Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie J. Schreyer; 1979-34-28

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18498001/ |title=Poster, Otis Rush & His Chicago Blues Band, Grateful Dead, The Canned Heat Blues Band at The Fillmore |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>