Martin Sharp's Big O Poster homage to Vincent van Gogh
In 1968 Big O Posters of London published a work by Australian artist Martin Sharp (1942-2013) simply titled Vincent . It was a spectacularly psychedelic poster in vibrant yellow and orange which paid homage to the artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-90). The April 1973 edition of London OZ magazine went so far as to describe it as "Flower power craziness. A mindblower." Martin Sharp, Vincent , Big O Posters, London, offest lithograph on paper, 49 x 73 cm, circa 1971. The work was a somewhat chaotic reflection by Sharp on the inner torment of van Gogh, who committed suicide in 1890. Channelling the Dutch painter, Jackson Pollock and the Surrealists, the Australian produced a work of vibrant intensity, with swirling lines of yellow paint and star-like drops of similar colour on an orange background. Yellow flowers including daffodils and daisies filled out the illusory three-dimensional image, whilst in amongst the splashes of paint could be seen nine van Gogh self port