A new auction of Raymond Pettibon’s artwork is about to give punk rock fans a chance to own a piece of Bay Area music history.
Pettibon’s signature black and white sketches during the 1980s heyday of California punk were consistently confrontational and thought-provoking, and often lewd or grotesque. Pettibon’s striking images adorned fliers, posters, album covers, T-shirts, ads and a variety of other ephemera for bands like Black Flag, Flipper and Minutemen. Now, more than 300 of these items are about to go on sale via Wright Auction House in Chicago.
Though phone and online bidding for Raymond Pettibon: The Punk Years officially opens on Aug. 22, advanced bids have already begun rolling in online. Starting bids across the board are $50, and estimated sale prices range between $150 and $1,500. One yellow “Jealous Again” skateboard, for example, is anticipated to garner as much as $1,000. Pettibon’s art zines are expected to fetch as much as $600 each, even though some of them are already available to read on the Internet Archive and buy online for less.