Oh Mercy. Trotsky and Bob Dylan Cover Art

This should interest a few Bob Dylan fans.  The original study for the album art for the Bob Dylan OH MERCY record cover.  It was done by Trotsky, who was a muralist active in New York City's Hell Kitchen neighborhood.  Dylan saw the mural while riding past on his bicycle, and obtained permission to use the painting, which was on the wall of a Chinese restaurant, for the jacket. 

Trotsky was a friend of mine and I obtained this piece, a pastel, from him.  Long ago.  The mural is, of course, long gone...and I sold the piece here long ago as well.  It is now on some other wall, and I hope loved as much as I did.  A wonderful little tribute to Mr. Dylan and the street artist Trotsky.

As you can see, in the original study there was a third person in the work which was the artist.  Some have speculated the painting was a fellow with a gun in his hand, but as you can see in the study, nope.  They were dancing!

The album was released in 1989, and as I recall I was guest at Dylan's Radio City Music Hall that year courtesy Trotsky.  Not only did Dylan's folks pay to use the painting, they gave the artist a few comps.

Original photograph "In Situ" by Jim Linderman 1986. 

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Antique Folk Art Sculpture Thresher and Steam Tractor c. 1920 Real Photo Postcard

Someone received a nice giant toy! Antique Folk Art Sculpture Thresher and Steam Tractor c. 1920 Real Photo Postcard Collection Jim Linderman

Test your Kisser

Novelty Lip Tester 1948 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Drawn Money! Drawn by Hand Bill and the story of J.S.G Boggs

When I received this drawn by hand tenspot from one of my favorite antique finders (as a gift) my thoughts went to one of the greatest contemporary performance artists ever. J.S.G Boggs drew money and spent it! He raised so many questions about the relationshop between money and art that it took New Yorker writer Lawrence Weschler a whole book to explain it. Basically, If Boggs wanted to purchase something for 100 dollars, he would draw a hundred dollar bill and spend it for the item. Arrested several times for counterfiting, I think he squeezed out of most charges. He didn't really sell his work...after "spending" a money drawing he would alert collectors where the transaction took place and it was up to them to track down the "Boggs Bucks" and purchase them back from the person who accepted his work of art in good faith. That is believing the drawing was so good it was equal in value to the object sold. His art was thus not valuable only for the drawn bill, the value was in the transaction. Back in the 1980s I was involved in one! A friend who was working on a profile of Boggs for television told me the artist had just spent five of his dollars for a drink at the Prince Street Bar in Soho, NY. I met the bartender, paid her for the bills (which she was happy to sell back) and received the signed receipt confirming the deal. i also subsequently met the artist himself,and he was crazy smart and interesting. Boggs passed away a few years ago. In retrospect, his "carny" background might have contributed to his oeuvre but he sure could draw good money. During his heyday, I recall hearing he had even purchased a motorcycle for a drawn 5,000 dollar bill! Let's just say he took the concept of Trompe l'oeil to the maximum. The bill here is unfinished and anonymous. I am guessing it dates to the great depression, when all most Americans had was a dream. I won't try to spend it. Read about the remarkable J.S.G Boggs in Weschler's book in Boggs: A Comedy of Values, or check his wikipedia page. A fantastic story by a magical artist and con man. Hand drawn "ten dollor bill" by anonymous, circa 1935? Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Antique Pair of Folk Art Hand Carved Puppet Heads c. 1900 Collection Jim Linderman

Made for each other! A matching pain of puppet heads, carved by hand, circa 1900. Original paint. Collection Jim Linderman

Juvenile Art Trace and Color in Crayon

Anonymous juvenile artist takes instructions literally...and traces the TITLE PAGE! Original page and corresponding traced page from Trace and Color Merrill Publishing 1937 each 11" x 15" Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Three Sober Horses at the Drinking Trough. 19th Century Folk Art Drawing based on 'Three members of the Temperance Society': Three Horses at a Drinking Trough (after J. F. Herring the elder)

I much prefer this lovely folk art drawing to the original. "Three Sober Horses at the Drinking Trough" 19th Century Folk Art Drawing based on 'Three members of the Temperance Society': Three Horses at a Drinking Trough (after J. F. Herring the elder) Original Folk Art Drawing collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb.

Black Jesus Last Supper Outsider Art collection Jim Linderman

Black Jesus Outsider Art. The Last Supper, mid 20th Century. Signed by RAY (unknown)said to be from Virginia. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Antique Original Pencil Drawings from a Stencil Set c. 1890 - 1910

A group we might call a meticulous menagerie. Antique Original Pencil Drawings from a Stencil Set. Drawn by hand on cheap lined paper. Still crisp considering age and acid. They come from a group of over fifty. Finding an original boxed stencil set seems difficult, but I have never seen such a large group of originals. I've cribbed a photo of a similar set from the web. Antique Original Pencil Drawings from a Stencil Set c. 1890 - 1910 Collection Jim Linderman

Bucking Bronco of Colorado RPPC

Circa 1935 real photo postcard. Written on reverse "Here is a picture of the higest bucking in the west. They put rubber hooves on the horse hoofs for an experiment but he got to going so high they had to shoot him to keep him from bucking himself to death. Sworn to by a notary." Real Photo Postcard Colorado circa 1935 Collection Jim Linderman

Antique American Folk Art Drawing c.1900 on a promotional notepad. Collection Jim Linderman

One of a number of original drawings from a Excelsior Stove Company promotional writing pad from the turn of last century. Slighty larger than 3" x 5". It is rather extraordinary that such a small, disposable advertising item from over 100 years ago remains! Antique American Folk Art Drawing by a child. C.1900. Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Nyla Gladine Thompson (1927-1969) Texas Outsider Art by a Polio Victim The Landscape Paintings Collection Jim Linderman

Nyla Gladine Thompson was 9 years old when began to suffer infantile paralysis. She began painting at age 13 with a brush held in her mouth. She painted this way for 20 years, becoming well known in the several Texas towns she lived in. Among her fans was first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. These works date to 1955 or so. Nyla Gladine Thompson works in oil, circa 1955 Collection Jim Linderman

Handmade Antique Book in Cyanotype Prussian Blue ! Westinghouse Bowling League 1919 has the Blues

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. Here the technique is employed to celebrate (and lampoon) the members of the Westinghouse Bowling League 14th annual meeting. The anonymous artist names each member being drawn, and the names are each found on a page reporting their scores. Not so good! While being one of the very first photographic techniques, the cyanotype has a secret skill. Shield them from light, and the color regenerates! These pages are nice and dark! Cyanotype Handmade Book 1919. Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb

Make-Do Handmade Working Folk Art Duck Decoys with Original Paint c. 1940

A skein, a flock, a gaggle,a raft, a brace...all names for a bunch of ducks. These I call a group of make-do, handemade duck decoys. Cut by hand from tin or actually galvanized steel. Tecnically a group of folk art silhouette decoys with original paint. Make-Do Handmade Working Folk Art Duck Decoys with Original Paint c. 1940 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb / Jim Linderman

Antique Drawings made from Stencils. Art Education Schoolgirl Art, Children's art Stencil Tracings c. 1910 Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Drawings made from Stencils. Art Education Schoolgirl Art, Children's art Stencil Tracings Anonymous c. 1910 Collection Jim Linderman

Untitled (Man with a Beef) original 35mm photograph c. 1990 by Jim Linderman

Untitled (Man with a Beef) original 35mm photograph c. 1990 by Jim Linderman

19th Century Folk Art Outsider Art Drawing on Flattened Prang Christmas Card Box Man, Woman, Horse

A sketch on a c.1890 flattened box reeking of age and creativity! Drawn on a Prang Christmas card box. Any school art teacher knows of Prang. They are still in business "providing children with the freedom to create without boundries" which means crayons, markers, chalks and modeling clay. The company was founded in 1882. I do not now if Mr. Prang intended to inspire a drawing of a man with a gun and a woman without a head. 19th Century Folk Art Outsider Art Drawing on Flattened Prang Christmas Card Box Man, Woman, Horse Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb. Thanks to Box Lot on Facebook

Pair of Folk Art Portraits on an envelope mailed with Pennsylvania House of Representatives Franking Privilege ? Civil War era

A pair of pencil portaits dated 1861,likely by a young woman, which were drawn on an envelope which appears to have been mailed using Congressional franking privileges. Franking gives Members of Congress free postage. The "scrap paper" drawings have an embossed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives stamp and was mailed in April 1861. Pair of Folk Art portraits 1861 Collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb

19th Century Calligraphy by Laura Trimble

Looks like Laura had to sqeeze her last name in here. An afterthought? Miniature Calligraphic drawing, c. 1890 Collection Dull Tool Dim Bulb / Jim Linderman

Rare Photographs of Justin McCarthy and Elijah Pierce 1972 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Two Man Show

I was surprised to come across a group of photographs of the outsider art masters Justin McCarthy and Elijah Pierce taken at their two-man show in 1972. At the time, there had been very few institutional exhibitions of this kind. Pierce had been "discovered" only a year earlier. McCarthy had been included in the "Seventeen Naive Painters" traveling show from the Museum of Modern Art in 1966. Along with the artists, the set shows my mentor Sterling Strauser with Elijah Pierce. I believe others at the show could be indentified by any old timers reading this...and it is interesting to see who turned up for the opening. These pictures actually come from contact prints taken by an as yet unidentified photographer. The whole set is posted on the digital archive of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts along with numerous installation views. Beautiful and historic pictures! See the entire set on the PFAFA Archives page at the following LINK