Bob Fried
Biography
Robert "Bob" Fried (1937–1975) was an American painter, printmaker, and second-wave San Francisco psychedelic poster artist. Born in Brooklyn, he trained formally — studying at New York City Community College and earning a BFA from Cooper Union (1961). On a Fulbright he spent roughly two years in Madrid before moving to San Francisco in 1966 to attend the San Francisco Art Institute, where he later took an MFA (1968) and taught. His first rock-poster commission reportedly came via Rick Griffin, for a Charlatans triptych at the Avalon around 1967. Most sources credit him with about eighteen concert posters (1967–1970) for the Family Dog, Bill Graham, and others, after which he returned to painting and fine-art prints. He died of a stroke on January 9, 1975. (Some specifics rest on a single gallery account.)
Why They Matter
Fried is regarded as one of the most accomplished of the "second wave" of San Francisco poster artists — a formally trained painter who brought a denser, more painterly and mystical sensibility to the Avalon / Family Dog idiom dominated by the first-wave "Big Five." His relatively small output (roughly eighteen posters) and early death at 37 have made his work scarcer and prized among collectors. His art is held in institutional collections including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the de Young.
Notable Works
- Avalon Ballroom / Family Dog (FD-series) posters, late 1960s (exact FD numbers vary by reference and are not individually verified)
- Charlatans / Avalon triptych panel (~1967, Griffin-initiated)
- Big Brother and the Holding Company poster (1967)
- Santana, Avalon Ballroom (1969)
- later satirical "postage stamp" fine-art prints