Eyeblog

V&A MUSEUM BUYS TONGUE AND LIPS ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY JOHN PASCHE

The Victoria & Albert Museum has bought the original drawings of the Rolling Stones’ tongue and lips logo for its permanent collection.

The world-renowned institution secured the winning auction bid for the drawings, created by Eyestorm artist John Pasche in 1970, for £65,000, half of which was provided by the Art Fund charity.

Lead singer Mick Jagger commissioned Pasche to design what has now become a cult symbol when the artist was a 24-year-old postgraduate at London’s Royal College of Art. Jagger was looking for new talent to design band paraphernalia, and after Pasche designed a tour poster for the band, he was the later commissioned to create a band logo.

“I wanted something anti-authority, but I suppose the mouth idea came from when I met Jagger for the time at the Stones’ office. I went into this sort of wood-paneled boardroom and there he was. Face to face with him, the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and his mouth,” said Pasche.

Initially he was paid just £50 for the artwork, but when The Stones copyrighted the design, Pasche got a share of royalties rights, which he later sold for a lump sum. He said the money earned from the recent sale of the original drawings will go toward private-school tuition for his son.

View and buy limited edition lithographs of Rolling Stones poster art by John Pasche.

In Association with the Institute of Contemporary Arts

Eyestorm is the leading online gallery of limited edition contemporary art. Founded in 1999, Eyestorm came under new management in 2006 and has refined its operations to make buying the finest contemporary art easier and more enjoyable than ever before.