"Legalise Cannabis" Original Vintage Poster by Martin Sharp, British, 1967

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"Legalise Cannabis" Original Vintage Poster by Martin Sharp, British, 1967

About the Item

Martin Sharp originally designed "Legalise Cannabis: The Putting Together of the Heads" to promote a public rally for the legalisation of marijuana in London's Hyde Park on Sunday 16 July 1967. An Australian born co-founder of London counter-culture journal Oz magazine, Sharp's own experimentation with psychedelic drugs and cannabis informed his artistic output during this period, as evident in the swirling psychedelic lettering above the dense collage of exotic ethnographic engravings of South American Indians. Intended for flyposting ahead of the rally, it is likely that few posters from the initial printing made it to the streets of London, as it was discovered that the flyposter had stolen the stock and sold it to an American poster distributor. The incident alerted Oz magazine distributor Peter Ledeboer to the potential market for commercial pop culture posters, leading him to set up Big O Posters in September 1967. "Legalise Cannabis" was then reprinted by Sharp and Ledeboer in red and black inks on glossy gold metallic-faced card and sold by mail order through Oz magazine as BO1, the first in the Big O poster series. With the Big O publisher credit in the lower margin, this example dates from the post September 1967 commercial printing. Similar examples are held in the collections of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, New South Wales and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Creator:
Martin Sharp (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
Style:
Post-Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Paper
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1967
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Unfolded cardstock, not backed. Nicks + creases to edges with dog-eared corners. Some light tarnishing to lower portion, typical of foil posters of this period. Image and colors otherwise excellent. Unframed. Will be shipped rolled in a sturdy tube.
Seller Location:
Devon, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: RG000201stDibs: LU4110315997381