John Moehring

John Moehring was born on October 25, 1947, and died on January 12, 2019.http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/John-Moehring-106743739 In the late 1960s, Moehring was one of the most prolific psychedelic rock poster artists in Seattle, Washington. https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/seattles-trippiest-rock-poster-artist-tells-all/ His posters have been described by Art Chantry as "the most accomplished and finest examples of northwest psych I found." 
== Early years ==
Some of Moehring's earliest artistic influences were his father, Bruce, who Moehring described as "a really good portrait artist,” and artists N.C. Wyeth and Arthur Rackham, whose illustrations for "Treasure Island" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" made an impression on Moehring. Later, in 1964, at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, Washington, Moehring became friends with Walt Crowley (June 20, 1947 – September 21, 2007), who joined Moehring for sketching sessions in the Crowley family's basement. Crowley wrote about Moehring in his 1995 memoir of Seattle in the 1960s, Rites of Passage. In it, he refers to Moehring as, "My best friend John Moehring (later one of Seattle's most prolific psychedelic poster artists)..." and writes "John Moehring and I shared an apartment in the infamous 'Monarch Annex' on Brooklyn."
== Rock posters ==
In 1967, rock promoter Trips Lansing hired Moehring to create what would become Moehring's first rock poster. The occasion was a "Trips Festival" at Seattle's Eagles Auditorium on March 19. Moehring would do a few more posters for Lansing, but the promoter who gave him the most work was Boyd Grafmyre, who became the booker at Eagles. As Walt Crowley writes of Grafmyre in Rites of Passage, "His shows shows were often advertised via posters designed by my old high school friend John Moehring, who was then heavily influenced by the style of Aubrey Beardsley." Between 1967 and 1969, Moehring designed at least 20 posters for Grafmyre, for concerts featuring the Grateful Dead, http://www.dead.net/tags/john-moehring Doors, Frank Zappa, Big Brother and the Holding Company, http://guity-novin.blogspot.com/2015/08/chapter-84-san-francisco-school.html#Eleven Donovan, Jeff Beck, and many others. 
For a good part of this period, Moehring was also a member of a light show called Retina Circus, which provided lights for Grafmyre at Eagles. As both a poster artist and member of Retina Circus, Moehring collaborated on a poster for the light show with Wes Wilson. 
In an interview about his book, The Art of Rock: Posters From Presley to Punk, author Paul Grushkin said "John Moehring very clearly was one of the Pacific Northwest's greatest artists.' Indeed, four of Moehring's posters are reproduced in The Art of Rock. 
== Later years ==
According Jacob McMurray, Director of Curatorial, Collections & Exhibits at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, there are 60 examples of John Moehring's posters and graphics, mostly from the late 1960s, in MoPOP's collection. A 1969 poster created for Heidelberg beer is in the collection of the Washington State Historical Society. And in 1972, Moehring was hired by the Washington Transit Advertising to paint the interior and exterior of a "people bus" for the Seattle Transit System. 
In 2015, artist Scott McDougall self-published his book about the greater Seattle rock-poster scene called Split Fountain Hieroglyphics: Psychedelic Concert Posters from the Seattle Area, 1966-1969, which was designed by Glen Beebe, edited by Ben Marks of Collectors Weekly, and included an introduction by Art Chantry. Thirty works by John Moehring are reproduced in that book, evidence of the artist's importance to that scene. Prior to publication, unsuccessful attempts were made by McDougall and his team to track down Moehring, but upon publication of the book, Moehring contacted McDougall. Moehring attended the book signing on September 23, 2015, at the Jolly Roger Taproom in Ballard. It was there that Moehring met Marks and agreed to an interview, which was published on May 25, 2016. 
In 2018, an auction by Classic Posters offered seven John Moehring posters from the late 1960s. Four sold at prices above their high estimates; the other three sold above their low estimates.https://auction.classicposters.com/auctions/1-1BJRXQ/november-december-2018-auction?limit=36&search=moehring
== References ==
==External links==
* John Moehring, Seattle’s Trippiest Rock-Poster Artist of the 1960s
* John Moehring Archive Up for Auction
* John Moehring | Classic Posters
* Seattle's Trippiest Rock-Poster Artist Tells All - Collectors Weekly
* Remembering John Moehring.... - The Rock Poster Society
Category:1947 births
Category:Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Category:American poster artists
Category:Psychedelic artists
Category:2019 deaths
Category:American artists