Magnificent original painting by Stanley Mouse, entitled ‘Bertha,’ oil on canvas, 13.25 x 17.5 (visible in frame), depicting a skeleton with several red roses wreathing its skull. Signed in green paint in the lower right, “S. Mouse,” who adds the small head of a mouse. Framed to an overall size of 20.8 x 24.8. In fine condition. Known widely under the pseudonym Mouse or Stanley Mouse, Stanley Miller was a San Francisco-based artist who produced a variety of psychedelic rock concert posters and album covers in the 1960s for bands like Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quick Silver Messenger Service, and, most famously, the Grateful Dead. Along with artist Alton Kelley, Miller is credited with creating the Grateful Dead’s iconic skeleton and rose imagery. Inspired by Edmund J. Sullivan's illustrations for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam poetry book, Kelley and Mouse originally conceptualized this image for a Grateful Dead concert poster for their two-night performance at the Avalon Ballroom on September 16-17, 1966. An altogether gorgeous and gothically charged work forever linked with the iconic cover art for the Grateful Dead’s 1971 self-titled live album. Oversized. Pre-certified PSA/DNA. Learn more about the 50th anniversary of the Grateful Dead.
