Prince Buster (from Tattoo Royal Suite)
View Similar Items
Don Ed HardyPrince Buster (from Tattoo Royal Suite)1995
1995
About the Item
- Creator:Don Ed Hardy (1946, American)
- Creation Year:1995
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Condition is excellent.
- Gallery Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU121624416421
Don Ed Hardy
In the world of art and fashion crossovers, there likely isn’t a more polarizing figure than Don Ed Hardy (b. 1945), a talented artist whose reputation as a tattoo master was blemished by the adoption of his work into a controversial fashion line. But there’s much more to Hardy’s story than the clothing — it begins with his revolutionizing the tattoo industry and ends with a bout of artistic redemption.
Born in Newport Beach, California, Hardy displayed an aptitude for drawing at a young age; he would go on to earn a degree in printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he took illustration classes under the likes of Bay Area figurative painters such as Joan Brown. But rather than pursue a career as a fine artist, Hardy turned to tattooing as his main form of expression, studying under tattoo legend “Sailor Jerry” Collins before traveling to Japan to learn from tattoo master Horihide. These two icons would influence Hardy’s style, which he would develop in his own shop.
Hardy’s first space, Realistic Tattoo Studio, opened in 1974. It was modeled after Japan’s premium tattoo parlors and was the first appointment-only tattoo studio in the United States. (Tattooing was less than low-brow in America at the time. New York City, for example, criminalized the act in the early 1960s, and the law remained in place for the ensuing decades.) Hardy would go on to create elaborate, sprawling back and chest pieces for his private clients and soon opened an additional public studio called Tattoo City. The artist garnered recognition for his work in the academic community, earned the Tattoo Artist of the Year award at the World Tattoo Convention in Houston in 1979, and by 1982, he was copublishing books on tattooing. Hardy played a major role in changing the public’s perception of tattooing from something that had been relegated to the margins to mainstream body art.
Of course, that shift in perception would ultimately lead to Hardy’s licensing of his work in 2003 to fashion magnate Christian Audigier of lifestyle apparel brand Von Dutch fame. Audigier plastered Hardy’s drawings across flamboyant hooded sweatshirts, which found a niche among quite a few controversial celebrities, including cast members of American reality-television series — this tainted the brand with a negative connotation. Some turned against Hardy, decrying Audigier’s apparel as gaudy and tasteless.
“People began globally to know my images, my name and my signature, but they didn’t know there was a real person behind it,” Hardy told CNN. Hardy and Audigier’s partnership ended in a settlement after a court battle in 2009.
Hardy has returned to the world of fine art, with galleries, museums and collectors lauding his drawings and paintings. In 2019, Hardy became the subject of a retrospective at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Although he retired from tattooing in 2008, he still works closely with Tattoo City, which is currently managed by his son, Doug.
Find Don Ed Hardy’s richly illustrated prints and more at 1stDibs.
- BROWN LADY II Signed Lithograph, Fashion Portrait, Woman In Flower Hat, Pop ArtBy Peter MaxLocated in Union City, NJBROWN LADY II is an original hand drawn lithograph by the American artist and Pop Art icon, Peter Max printed in an edition of 100, using traditional han...Category
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Erró, Ice Cream for Mao - Signed Print, Pop Art, Figuration NarrativeBy Gudmundur ErroLocated in Hamburg, DEGudmundur Gudmundsson, aka Erró (Icelandic, b. 1932) Ice Cream for Mao, 2004 Medium: Lithograph on wove paper Medium: 77.5 × 59 cm Edition of 120: Hand signed and numbered Condition:...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Couple, Woman Smoking a Cigarette - Original handsigned lithograph - 250 copiesBy Richard LindnerLocated in Paris, FRRichard LINDNER Couple, Woman Smoking a Cigarette (1976) Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Numbered / 250 copies On Arches vellum 28 x 22"...Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
Richard LindnerCouple, Woman Smoking a Cigarette - Original handsigned lithograph - 250 copies, 1978$938 Sale Price22% OffFree Shipping - Profile Elegant Man - Original handsigned lithograph - 250 copiesBy Richard LindnerLocated in Paris, FRRichard LINDNER Profile Elegant Man (1976) Original lithograph Handsigned in pencil Numbered / 250 copies On Arches vellum 28 x 22" (71 x 55 cm) ...Category
1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Senorita Rio, from 1¢ LifeBy Mel RamosLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Mel Ramos Title: Senorita Rio Portfolio: 1¢ Life Medium: Lithograph Year: 1963 Edition: 2000 Frame Size: 26" x 26 1/4" Image Size: 15 1/2" x 16 1/4" Signature: UnsignedCategory
1960s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- FLOWER SPECTRUM II Signed Lithograph, Woman Profile Portrait Pink, Green, YellowBy Peter MaxLocated in Union City, NJFLOWER SPECTRUM II is an original hand drawn lithograph by the American Pop artist Peter Max printed in an edition of 150, using traditional hand lithography techniques on archival paper. FLOWER SPECTRUM II is a graceful female profile portrait head depicting a feminine goddess woman crowned in leaves and flowers, printed in deep raspberry rose...Category
1990s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsLithograph