Robert Crumb

Robert Crumb is one of the most amazing, influential and prolific American artists
of our time.

He first came into view in the 1960s,
and his early work has since
become iconic of that era.

Literate, passionate and highly skilled,

he ranks highly among his peers

and 40 years on, he remains
a towering influence on generations
of artists.

Many people were introduce to his work
through music, when this album
by Janis Joplin with Big Brother
and the Holding Company turned up
in living rooms around the world.

Mr. Crumb not only appreciates music,
he has earned part of his income
by visualizing it over the years.
He also plays music.

Over the years, he has created many tributes
to blues and jazz music he loves,
and the artists* who created it.

His attitudes and his art
are grounded in and informed
by the music of the old, weird America,
reading, drugs and recently, by life
as an exile in small-town France.

While he's known for radical ideas and artwork,
his critical eye has always been more concerned
with honesty than any intellectual fashion.



 

His literacy has led him to a reverence
for music, art and the voice of the individual.
He has long been confounded by the triviality

of much in the modern world,
up to and including Twitter.

His criticism of the world around us
is  every bit as searing when he looks at himself. Self-portraits are a recurring theme in his work, and they are rarely flattering.


























His work reflects a lifetime of constant devotion
to the craft of his art.

The result is profound understanding
of shapes, lines, light and darkness,
all of which give his stories the elusive power
of subtlety.

His latest project is his interpretation
of the biblical book of Genesis,
including the begats.

R. Crumb is a storyteller and an artist
in the tradition of Swift, Breughel, Vonnegut
and Twain, among others.

His words and his images are one voice,
instantly recognizable, and so powerful
that thousands of others have been inspired
to try and emulate his excellence.

Mr. Crumb's own site is here:
http://www.crumbproducts.com/index.html

to hear R. Crumb talk about his work
and the world, go here:
http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2008/08/present_at_the_cartoon_creatio.html




see a GREAT collection of Crumb drawings here- not for the easily offended!

* to read the entire Charlie Patton story
by R. Crumb, go here:
http://www.revleft.com/vb/robert-crumb-appreciation-t32287/index.html


to read an excellent appreciation
of him, go here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1357587/posts



and there's another good one here:
http://www.thefilmpalace.com/R.%20Crumb.htm


and how his work is priced/valued here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3639797/Art-sales-Crumbs-are-sweeping-up.html


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