Robert Fried turned a Family Dog handbill into something closer to a devotional icon. At the center of this Avalon Ballroom postcard is a green face drawn from Kathakali, the classical dance-drama of southern India. It has burning red eyes, a jeweled third eye, and a sly fanged smile, and it is crowned by two splayed blue hands studded with yellow stars. Hot pink and kelly green fields push against each other until the whole image seems to hum.

Issued as part of the numbered Family Dog series, the card announced Steppenwolf, Charley Musselwhite, The 4th Way, and the Indian Head Band, with lights by Electro Luminescence. The ornate Victorian-revival headline script and the rippling venue lettering show how San Francisco artists of the late 1960s fused antique typography with optical intensity. The reverse preserves the original Family Dog mailer design, with its swirling green ornament and bulk-rate postage indicia.

The card captures the counterculture's embrace of Eastern mysticism at the height of the ballroom era. It is a standout piece for collectors of psychedelic concert graphics.

Size: 7" x 5"

Artist: Robert Fried

Condition: Very Good, Age-appropriate wear, fading and toning. Please use the photo zoom feature to get a better understanding of overall condition. Some postcards maybe have been previously used, with stamps and writing on verso.