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Daily Art Moment: Summer of Love

August 6, 2021
Neptune’s Notion, Victor Moscoso, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet:22 x 14 inches. A brightly colored, vertical poster depicting Neptune being encircled by a large fish and topped with concert details in organic, psychedelic font. Bright blue letters against a pale orange ground read: “Moby Grape” at center top, flanked by the words “Dance Concert” under a row of blue stars. Below, two lines of text read: “Avalon, The Charlatans, Feb 24 Fri, 25 Sat. Ballroom, Sutter at Van Ness San Francisco, Light Van Meter, Hillyard.” A row of stylized purple waves on orange ground transitions to bright blue ground. Neptune is centered with a full head of hair and beard, details of his hair picked out in white line. Neptune’s body is bright pink, and he holds a trident on the left and stretches out his other hand by his side. An orange and blue fish wraps around Neptune’s head and torso with the words, “Neptune’s Notions” on its body. A female figure approaches Neptune from bottom right near the fish’s mouth. Smaller orange fish on blue swim in the background. A small, oval logo reading “Family Dog Presents” with a top hatted man is at lower right. The scene is outlined in orange, blue and bright pink borders. Additional ticket information is printed at bottom in small, plain black font.
Victor Moscoso (American, born Spain, 1936), Neptune’s Notion, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet: 22 in x 14 in, Gift of Gary Westford, from the Gary Westford Collection. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2019.29.8

The summer of 1967 was filled with drugs, sex, and rock and roll, earning it the title “Summer of Love.” It was, in other words, Hot Vax Summer before any vaccine was needed! Psychedelic posters proliferated across the streets of San Francisco advertising concerts, happenings, and events. Recently, the Portland Art Museum received a distinguished collection of these artistic posters, which combined innovative lettering, brilliant color schemes, and witty design. How is your summer going? Is it Summer of Love redux, or is it a repeat of 2020?

—Mary Weaver Chapin, Curator of Prints and Drawings

Jefferson Airplane, Wes Wilson, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Dino Valenti, February 3-5, Fillmore Auditorium, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet: 22 in x 14 in. A red, purple and white vertical poster featuring the distorted images of several nude figures that seems to meld into one another in graphic style in purple on white. Red and purple waves encompass each end of the grouping. Above the figures are the words “Jefferson Airplane” in organic, psychedelic font, enclosed in a white and purple geometric border with red accents at the corners. An asymmetrical, wavy border of purple, white and red separate the lower third of the poster from the top portion. The words “Quick Silver Messenger Service, Dino Valenti, Fri, Sat, Sun, February, 3,4,5, Fillmore Auditorium, Adm, $3.00” appear within a white and purple geometric border with red accents. Additional ticket information appears at the bottom in black font.
Wes Wilson (American, 1937-2020), Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Dino Valenti, February 3-5, Fillmore Auditorium, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet: 22 in x 14 in, Gift of Gary Westford, from the Gary Westford Collection. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2019.29.32
Pink Panther, Victor Moscoso, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet: 22 in x 14 inches. A blue, bright pink and green vertical poster depicting a cat’s eyes and nose in green over a mirror image of two heads with bright pink hair, all against a blue ground. Above the image, the space is divided in half with the left side reading: “June, 1, Thu, 2 Fri, The Miller Blues Band, Daily Flash” in green and blue on pink and the right side reading “June 3, Sat, 4 Sun, Doors, The Miller Blues Band” in green and blue on pink in psychedelic font. Across the bottom of the poster are the words: “Avalon Ballroom, Sutter & Van Ness, Dance Concert, San Francisco, Lights, North American Ibis Alchemical Co.” Additional ticket information appears across the bottom in plain, black font.
Victor Moscoso (American, born Spain, 1936), Pink Panther, 1967, color offset lithograph on paper, image/sheet: 22 in x 14 in, Gift of Gary Westford, from the Gary Westford Collection. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2019.29.10

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