Rare 1951 Andy Warhol Artwork "The Nation's Nightmare" CBS Heroin Documentary LP

$

750

Rare 1951 Andy Warhol Artwork "The Nation's Nightmare" CBS Heroin Documentary LP

VERY EARLY WARHOL DESIGN * Narcotics Junkie Shooting Up XTV 15688

THE NATION'S NIGHTMARE
"Traffic in Narcotics"/"Crime on the Waterfront"
1951 / CBS Radio / Columbia Special Products XTV 15688
Original early microgroove 12" LP vinyl record

Condition: Attractive jacket displays nicely -- very clean front with nearly invisible small stain area at center. Diagonal crease upper left. 3/4" edge tear upper right. Edge wear on all sides, 1" wearthrough on spine but no seps. Two edge tears on back left. Inner sleeve present as I received it but I don't know if it's original. Record is in played condition with surface scratches apparent but retaining much of its original vinyl sheen -- and the two record labels are gorgeous. See photos below.

Tough-to-find very early Andy Warhol record cover art commission -- and arguably the most desireable because it features a theme that would become very strongly associated with Warhol and the scene he would come to dominate many years later -- the recreational use of narcotics such as heroin. Warhol's drawing depicts a junkie shooting up. Remember -- this record is from 1952.

The record jacket features two illustrations by Warhol on the front -- the second illustration is two guys in a fight on the waterfront -- and the same two graphics also appear on the labels of the record.

Andy Warhol won a competition organised by CBS Radio to illustrate a New York Times advertisement published on September 13th 1951 for the radio shows "Traffic in Narcotics" and "Crime on the Waterfront", narrated by Bill Downs, broadcast on CBS Radio on the same evening. The advertisement is reproduced on the back of the record jacket.

Warhol won his first art award for this -- The Art Directors Club Award in 1952.

The commission came from legendary CBS creative director Lou Dorfsman, who recounts the story in this interesting interview:

"... radio was the big business of CBS then, television was the step-child growing up... and you could see that one was going to take over, there was no question about that, so we wanted to keep radio alive and vital. Andy Warhol had the visual impact that I wanted for such a subject. There's a gritty quality about the style. Ben Shahn brought the same thing to it; that's where I cast Andy in that role. I'd say, "What about a guy shooting up? Here's the layout I'm doing and I don't want to restrict you." I just explained to him what the program was all about and left it to him. A big difference between an artist and a graphic designer... is that the artist works in quiet desperation all by himself and advertising is a big collaboration. Silk screening Monroe twelve different ways and different colour breakdowns is fine - it's a graphic design schtick. To me that's graphic design, I could do that. Would I have thought of doing twelve Monroes? I don't think so. I wouldn't have thought of it as a great accomplishment but they're very gorgeous women..."

"The Nation's Nightmare" might be the first album cover featuring Warhol's work. In any case, he would continue to do album covers throughout his life - the most well-known being the 1967 Velvet Underground album featuring a banana and the 1971 cover for The Rolling Stones' album Sticky Fingers, which featured an image of a man's crotch in a pair of jeans with a functioning zipper.

All photographs are of actual item.

Full refunds cheerfully given for any item that I have misdescribed.