{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1172784"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1172784/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HB9531/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HB9531/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HB9531","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1172784","accessionNumber":"S.736-2010","objectType":"Poster","titles":[{"title":"Bill Graham Presents","type":"series title"}],"summaryDescription":"The Fillmore in San Francisco is a historic music venue, named after its original location at the intersection of Fillmore Street and Geary Boulevard. Known as the Fillmore Auditorium in the mid-1960s, concert promoter Bill Graham began a series of concerts featuring bands from the counterculture of the time. In 1968, due to his spiralling success, he moved to a larger venue which he named Fillmore West. Having closed in 1971, and after extensive repair work to fix earthquake damage, Graham's was revived when Live Nation reopened the original Fillmore venue in 1994.\r\n\r\nSan Francisco in the mid-1960s was the hub of the LSD and Hippie scene and the cultural and political rebellion of 1967's Summer of Love. The resulting influence of these factors on the artists of the area created the fantastic psychedelic posters of the Fillmore. Art dealer Jacaeber Kastor said of the posters, \"They couldn't just tell you the information about the show. They had to tell you what kind of people you might meet, what kind of far out trip you might have or perhaps even reveal the mysteries of the universe. Wow. Quantum mechanics, visual mudwrestling, Acid test pop quiz on a phone pole!\"\r\n\r\nThe artist of this poster, Wes Wilson, was a designer in the San Francisco small press company Contact, creating posters for Bill Graham's Fillmore and rival promoter Chet Helms' Avalon Ballroom. He stopped working for Helms in August 1966, as he received more artistic freedom from Graham. He adapted his lettering style from an Art Nouveau and Expressionism exhibition, expanding the outlines and shapes exaggeratedly, creating intense patterns for the backgrounds. He used vibrant and contrasting colours, which, combined with the patterns, often made the text almost indecipherable. His choice of colours was to reflect the nature of the stimulating light shows that accompanied the concerts. \r\n\r\nThis gig at the Fillmore Auditorium featured a performance from Buffalo Springfield, the short lived rock group that served as a springboard for Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. They were supported by the Steve Miller Blues band, who often played the Fillmore after moving to San Francisco in 1965 for the psychedelic scene in the early days of their career.","physicalDescription":"Poster advertising Buffalo Springfield, Steve Miller Blues Band, All Alive and Freedom Highway performing 28 to 30 April 1967 at Fillmore West, San Francisco. Black background with yellow and gold psychedelic text and illustration of a face.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Wilson, Wes","id":"A3062"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Creative Lithograph Co.","id":"A36048"},"association":{"text":"printer","id":"x30811"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"printing ink","id":"AAT187371"},{"text":"card","id":"x30344"}],"techniques":[{"text":"lithography","id":"AAT53271"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Lithography on index card stock","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Advertising","id":"THES49001"},{"text":"Posters","id":"THES252963"}],"styles":[{"text":"Psychedelic","id":"AAT112743"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2014HB9531"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"010","id":"THES345283"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"posters","id":"AAT27221"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"San Francisco","id":"x32036"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1967","earliest":"1967-01-01","latest":"1967-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National  Design Museum","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"54.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"35.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Transferred as part of a collection from the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, in 1985.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Poster advertising Buffalo Springfield, Steve Miller Blues Band, All Alive and Freedom Highway performing 28 to 30 April 1967 at Fillmore West, San Francisco.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Lemke, Gayle <i>The Art of the Fillmore 1966-71</i>, Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 1999"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"<i>Poster Collecting.</i> Fillmore Poster. 06 August 2010.\r\n <https://www.fillmoreposter.com/products1.php?cat=BG>"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[{"text":"San Francisco","id":"x32036"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Buffalo Springfield","id":"N15372"},{"text":"Steve Miller Band","id":"N15374"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"psychedelia","id":"x37591"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.736-2010"],"accessionNumberNum":"736","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2010,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Bill Graham's numbering system","id":"THES56773"},"number":"BG 61"}],"copyNumber":"First Edition","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-26","recordCreationDate":"2010-09-24","availableToBook":true}}