Crosby Classics

We're grateful to Jeffrey Ferguson, who alerted us to this previously overlooked early Flora cover.

Based on the catalog number (M-555) and some internet research, this cover dates from 1944, which would make it the earliest known illustrated Jim Flora cover. Though unsigned, the tiger-striped typography and horseback rider point to Flora as the artistic culprit. In 1944 he was art director of Columbia, which was issuing back catalog in 78 folio format owing to a recording ban (a musicians union stoppage) and a shellac shortage (due to the war effort). These Crosby recordings dated from the early 1930s.

Spectators — new fine art print

At JimFlora.com we're issuing our first new limited edition fine art print in over a year. Spectators, an uncirculated 1940s-era tempera, depicts a phantasmagoria of grotesque faces, with stray limbs. This work has not previously been reproduced or published anywhere. The original is owned by Flora's godson, Keith McAllister, of California, who granted us permission to professionally photograph the work and issue it as a limited edition print. 

Only twenty-five (25) prints of Spectators were produced for this edition. Each print is hand-numbered in the lower right, hand-titled in the lower left (beneath the art), and authenticated on the reverse with the stamped seal of Jim Flora Art (a Flora family enterprise).

I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo

Illustration, Columbia Records new popular-release weekly trade mailer Hit of the Week, August 1942, promoting clarinet-tooting bandleader Benny Goodman's new single, "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo." At the time, Flora was working in the Columbia art department under then-Art Director Alex Steinweiss. Another illustration from this series of ads can be viewed here.

Sun Ra: Solo Piano (a la Flora)

Another Flora album cover—although in this case the product is digital-only. The illustration originally appeared in the December 1945 issue of Columbia's Coda new-release monthly, which Flora wrote, edited, and illustrated for three years. The detail was adapted for this digital album cover by Flora co-archivist Irwin Chusid, who also represents the Sun Ra estate. The album is available at iTunes.

Flora's album cover legacy has extended into the 21st century, with designers adapting his images for new releases, which can be viewed in the CD gallery at JimFlora.com.

Fresh Ink and Flora tattoo #4

Reader/art lover Tiago writes: "I am a huge fan of Jim Flora’s work. (I have already bought books and prints.) I would like to share this image of my latest tattoo, from a Flora work. Hope you guys like it! It is a sincere homage to one of my favorite artists!"

The original illustration is from 1942:

This isn't the first time Flora has inspired skin art:

Bix, birthday boy
Fresh ink and Flora tattoo #2
Demonstrated commitment!

murder in the Keystone State

Spot illustration, Columbia Records new popular-release weekly trade mailer, November 7, 1942, promoting bandleader Horace Heidt's new single, "Pennsylvania Polka." Despite the caption,  there appear to be no casualties on the dance floor.

Party Animals

Detail of untitled 1940s tempera casually referred to as "Tenement K," which contains quite a few enigmatic and disturbing tenants. The original work is owned by Keith McAllister, who extracted the above celebratory duo to produce a holiday card titled "Party Animals." No better way to ring in seasonal festivities than a curiously sinister Flora tableau.

Tenement K

Today we introduce a new limited edition fine art print called TENEMENT K, whose residents are bawdy, musical, criminal, and/or exhibitionistic. Doesn't matter if you're rowdy, serpentine, or headless—the landlord will rent you a room. If you were a mutant miscreant, you'd be home by now.

The previously unpublished and uncirculated work, which dates from the 1940s, is owned by a private collector who allowed us to have the work professionally photographed for print reproduction. Although the work is untitled, we have provisionally named it Tenement K to differentiate it from other untitled Jim Flora works.

Only forty (40) prints of Tenement K were produced for this edition. Each archival-quality 22" x 17" print is hand-numbered in the lower right and authenticated on the reverse with the stamped seal of Jim Flora Art (a Flora family enterprise). The provisional title does not appear in the print markings.

The launch price is $175.00 each (+ shipping and handling). Prices will increase as the edition sells down. Full print specs are included on the Tenement K page at JimFlora.com.

WOW! YIP! Don't miss this!

Spot illustration, Columbia Records new popular-release weekly trade mailer, October 31, 1942, promoting Kay Kyser and His Orchestra's single "Can't Get Out of This Mood" (Columbia 36657)

the hand as pillow

Untitled pen & ink drawing, 1942 (reproduced in our 

second book, The Curiously Sinister Art of  Jim Flora)

Too Much Information - Part 2

More current activity in the Florasphere (see Part 1 here):

We're preparing several new fine art prints for release, including a Mambo For Cats giclée (the oversized screen print sold out last year, but the Mambo mini remains available). Above is a mockup of a proposed print that might make it into 2013's release queue.

Our Tokyo-based Floraphile friend Takashi Okada has compiled and designed The Raymond Scott Songbook, a magnificent two-CD set of vintage and rare Scott recordings from the 1930s to the 1960s. The package includes a 100-page booklet featuring a number of Flora spot illos from the 1940s and '50s, which we provided for Takashi's use.

Three full Flora works from the 1940s (Fletcher Henderson, 1942, pictured above) are being used as set dressing on the forthcoming Showtime TV series Masters of Sex. The series takes place in the 1950s, and portrays the lives and work of sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series debuts in September.

An untitled early 1950s Flora black & white tableau has been edited and vibrantly colorized for a forthcoming album, Raymond Scott Rewired, to be released in September on the Basta label. The album features the entire Raymond Scott music catalog—from 1930s jazz novelties to 1960s electronic experiments with Scott's homemade instruments—remixed, mashed, and flipped by three expert audio hooligans: The Bran Flakes, The Evolution Control Committee, and Go Home Productions. You can hear three samples from the album here.

Get in line ...

... a Cugat conga line, to pre-order the new Flora anthology, The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora. It features all of Flora's known album and EP covers (including back cover illustrations) from 1947 to 1961 for Columbia, RCA Victor, and their affiliated labels, along with music-themed fine art works, illustrations, and sketches. The book was completed last week and will head shortly to the printer. (Despite what it says at Amazon, the publication date will be sometime in August, not June 30. We dawdled a bit.)

As was the case with the previous three Flora anthologies, The High Fidelity Art was compiled and authored by Irwin Chusid and Barbara Economon, designed by Laura Lindgren, and published by Fantagraphics.

Flora, Raymond and Takashi

We received a photo of this festive tableau from our good friend (and devoted Floraphile) in Japan, Takashi Okada. The greeting card, a vintage artifact ca. 1944, was purchased by Takashi from the Flora collection a few years ago.

Behind the card sits a demo of Takashi's forthcoming Raymond Scott Songbook, a 2-cd collection of rare Scott archival recordings and new cover versions by a variety of artists. Positioned to the right is a figurine of Raymond Scott, manufactured by PressPop of Japan in commemoration of the Scott centennial in 2008.

disjointed man

Untitled ink on paper, 1942, first published in The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora (2007, Fantagraphics).

Bix, birthday boy (and Flora tattoo #3)

Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke (1903-1931)

Today is the 109th birthday of Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke, an American "hot jazz" legend who's been dead for 81 of those years. Bix was an alcoholic who never took a legal drink in his life. He was underage when Prohibition commenced in 1919, and died before it was repealed in 1933.

Jim Flora, who loved jazz, rendered a caricature of this revered cornetist on a 1947 Columbia Records 4-disc set. Last week we issued a limited edition fine art print of the illustration. Despite his brief, sordid life, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential musicians of the 1920s, the only decade commonly identified with a specific strain of music — "The Jazz Age." Bix lived it, and helped define it.

P.S. Bix and Flora also helped define this man's arm:

Photo: Julie Belcher/Yee-Haw Industries

Bix & Tram print released

Today we launch a new limited edition fine art print of a classic mid-century Flora album cover. Bix and Tram was one of the artist's earliest record sleeve illustrations, issued by Columbia in 1947 on a 78 rpm 4-disc set. The cover features outlandish caricatures of two legendary bandmates from the 1920s "hot jazz" scene: cornetist Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke and saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer.

Despite what appear to be mutant facial and cranial features, in fact these figures look exactly like Bix and Tram! Bix was scarlet-complexioned due to his overindulgence of bathtub gin, and Trumbauer was green from showering in money. Little-known historical facts. No need to thank us. Come back often.

The work has been issued in a limited edition run of 25 hand-numbered prints. Prices will increase as the edition sells down.

Flora talk & rare art show Dec 17 in NYC

untitled tempera, early 1940s

Flora biographer/archivist me (Irwin Chusid) will present an informal talk about the artist's life, accompanied by digital projection of over 100 spectacular works from the Flora collection on Saturday, December 17, at Dorian Grey Gallery, New York. The wine begins pouring into cheap plastic cups at 4:00 pm, with the presentation starting at 5:00 pm sharp. Admission is free, but seating is limited, so arrive early. The event concludes around 7:00 pm.

The Dorian Grey Gallery, located at 437 East 9th Street (between 1st and A), is hosting The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora, the first posthumous New York exhibit and sale of Jim Flora original art and prints. The exhibit opened on Nov. 19 and runs thru Jan. 8.

puzzle pony

Untitled, undated, unsigned woodcut print from Flora's Little Man Press days (1939-1942). The original block cannot be located, and we have no idea of the image's original context. It does not appear in any LMP publications.

sitting man

Woodcut print, ca. 1938-1940, rendered when Flora lived in Cincinnati and was working with Robert Lowry producing Little Man Press publications. Title, edition run, and location of original block unknown. The print was discovered in the estate of a Cincinnati collector who passed away at age 93 several months ago. The collection included about a dozen vintage Flora prints, most previously unseen by us. We'll publish others soon.

Charlie's Egg

Tempera on heavy stock (actually, painted on the reverse of an oversized 1943 Columbia Records convention program; clean paper was rationed and scarce during World War II). The previously uncirculated and largely unseen work was first published in our third anthology, The Sweetly Diabolic Art of Jim Flora. We issued a limited edition fine art print of the work in 2009.

The identity of Charlie remains unknown.