Stanley Mouse Art

Art Brokerage: Artist Stanley Mouse, born in 1940, created some of the most distinctive and enduring images in rock music, his sophisticated yet irreverent nouveau style adorning countless album covers and concert posters. Born Stanley Miller in Detroit, he earned the nickname "Mouse" while in grammar school in honor of the endless rodent sketches scattered throughout his notebooks. As a teen he turned to graffiti art, a hobby that led to his expulsion from high school; at that point he enrolled in Detroit's School for the Society of Arts and Crafts, but finding classes in life drawing and painting to be a bore, he instead discovered an outlet for his creative energies in the airbrush.

The psychedelic posters Mouse produced were heavily influenced by Art Nouveau graphics, particularly the work of Alfons Mucha. Material associated with psychedelics, such as Zig-Zag rolling papers, were also referenced. Producing posters advertising for such musical groups as Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Grateful Dead led to meeting the musicians and making contacts that have proven very fruitful.