Description
14-color lithograph, Edition of 5000, printed in 2013
1964 Film by Bruce Brown, Art by John Van Hamersveld
Authenticity: anti-forgery embossed anniversary “TES 50″ emblem
Dimensions: 39″ x 27”
Paper: Finch Fine Ultra Smooth 80 lb. Cover
Inks: UV fluorescent by Ink Systems, Inc. Two double hit passes on each color + double hit of black, 14 colors on the sheet to achieve vibrancy.
Embossing: Embossed using a multi-level sculptured brass die by Metal Magic, Inc.
Frame: bevel cut matte black MDF, white acid-free 8-ply mat, gallery UV acrylic; overall size 31¼ × 43¼ inches.
Note: The fluorescent inks use dyes and not pigments, and are more affected by UV rays than pigment inks. Important to note that the print, when displayed, should be kept away from direct sun and/or bright daylight.
In 1963, Van Hamersveld was hired by director and filmmaker Bruce Brown to design this iconic movie poster using a photograph taken by Bob Bagley, general manager and camera man for Bruce Brown Films. In the staged photograph originally taken at Salt Creek, Brown is positioned in the foreground with his surfboard on his head and the movie’s two stars, Robert August and Mike Hynson, between Brown and the setting sun. Van Hamersveld converted the photo into an abstract design by reducing each color to a single tone and giving each image a single, hard edge. A video by the artist showing the printing process here.
Artist John Van Hamersveld
John Van Hamersveld (b.1941, Baltimore, MD) is a graphic artist and illustrator who designed record jackets for pop and psychedelic bands from the 1960s onward. His first major assignment, in 1963, was designing the poster for the surf film The Endless Summer, after which he served as Capitol Records’ head of design from 1965 to 1968. Among the 300 albums are the covers of Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles, Crown of Creation by Jefferson Airplane, and Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones.
Filmmaker Bruce Brown
Prior to 1964, Hollywood along with the mainstream media viewed surfers as rebellious bums. Filmmaker Bruce Brown changed that with The Endless Summer. The all-time classic portrayed the wave as a kind of Holy Grail and surfers as knights on a quest to explore the world in search of the perfect wave. The Endless Summer was Bruce’s sixth surf film in a career that started almost accidentally and proceeded according to the guerrilla template of the times — “shoot all winter, edit in the spring, run your ass off all summer showing the damn thing – including doing your own live narration – in school auditoriums and small halls, then pack up for another winter on the road and do it all over again. With The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown broke that mold.
My Favorite Poster
I bought an original printing of this “black light” poster in the 1960s at a shop called The Psychedelic Shed in Ridgefield, CT. It hung on my wall next to other Day-Glo® posters, Push Pin Studios posters, and a groovy hanging mobile. See the dorky photo of me in my bedroom wearing a pair of “tripping” glasses made from faceted glass that distorted the view.
