Original Crumb

On a recent Friday night, a certain corner of New York’s fashionable Upper East Side was overrun by a decidedly unfashionable crowd. Fans of underground cartoonist Robert Crumb, came out in full force, patiently waiting in a line that circled the block, for entry to R. Crumb: Lines Drawn on Paper. The retrospective show is now at the Society of Illustrators, through April 30th.


In an AP interview we learn that Crumb is mystified as to why anyone would want to see his creations in a gallery. “For me,” he says, “the printed copy is the magic moment.”

Consider this 90-piece exhibit covering four decades of inked output, a ‘magic moment’ for the rest of us—the opportunity to see original drawings from Crumb’s own hand, fetshized as art. Kind of like getting the rude, perverted, adolescent utterances straight from the maestro’s own filthy mouth. It’s something you don’t want to miss.




There are, actually, some fashionable Crumb fans.



Click image to see it bigger.

“God bless Crumb. I’ve always been happy that there was
someone as sick and twisted as I am.” —George Carlin

R. Crumb: Lines Drawn On Paper
A Retrospective of the work of R. Crumb

Tuesdays 10:00-8:00, Wednesdays – Fridays 10:00–5:00, and Saturdays noon–4:00.

The Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street
New York, NY 10065
212.838.2560

Ends April 30th


Crumb has a terrific website.
I highly recommend the timeline of his comics.