# Rick Griffin artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/rick-griffin/
Profile generated: 2026-05-27T13:03:40.761Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: American
- Movements: Psychedelic art, Underground comix
- Common media: Screen-printed posters, Comic art and comix, Album cover design, Illustration and graphic design

## About Rick Griffin

Rick Griffin (1944–1991), born Richard Alden Griffin, was an American artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and cartoonist who became one of the defining visual voices of the 1960s counterculture. He rose to prominence as a leading designer of psychedelic concert posters in San Francisco, creating iconic imagery for the Fillmore and Avalon Ballroom scenes. A founding member of the Zap Comix collective, Griffin helped shape the underground comix movement alongside Robert Crumb and others. His long association with the Grateful Dead produced some of the most recognizable album covers and tour posters in rock history, including the celebrated Aoxomoxoa artwork. Earlier, Griffin contributed to California surf culture through his comic strip Murphy and surf-film poster designs. His work is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and is documented in the Getty Union List of Artist Names. Collectors encounter Griffin material across vintage posters, original illustrations, comix, and music memorabilia markets.

## Common works and media

Collectors and appraisers may encounter Rick Griffin screen-printed concert posters, album cover art and related proof sheets, original ink and mixed-media illustrations, Zap Comix pages and first-printing comic books, surfing-themed cartoons and film posters, freelance magazine and editorial illustrations, and collaborative works produced with other Zap Comix artists. Posters and prints are the most frequently seen medium at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Rick Griffin's work appears most often at auction as vintage concert posters, Grateful Dead memorabilia, original comic art, and underground comix. Original 1960s screen-printed concert posters from San Francisco venues tend to attract the strongest bidding, especially those tied to Grateful Dead performances. First-printing Zap Comix issues and original comix pages are also traded actively. Condition, edition size, provenance, and authenticity are primary valuation factors, as reproductions and unauthorized reprints of Griffin imagery circulate in the market. MoMA institutional holdings and Getty ULAN documentation support ongoing collector confidence in his work.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity research from library authority files, museum records, and encyclopedia sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. For Rick Griffin, identity data is grounded in Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata, Library of Congress authority files, and the Museum of Modern Art collection record.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3431550
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Griffin
- Getty Research Institute: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500126248
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/5151897105524071845/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80151335
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/47219