Che Guevara VIVA CHE 1968! The original red and black Che Guevara poster reproduced exactly as in 1968 from the original artwork. All are signed and numbered by Jim FitzPatrick.

Description

The original 1968 Che Guevara poster ‘Viva Che!’ by the original creator, Irish artist Jim FitzPatrick.

PRINT INFORMATION

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL SILKSCREEN PRINT PRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL 1968 ARTWORK BY IRISH ARTIST JIM FITZPATRICK

PRINTED IN THE TRADITIONAL AND ORIGINAL SILKSCREEN PRINTING PROCESS USED FOR THE ORIGINAL CHE GUEVARA POSTER IN 1968. PRINTED ON A WHITE CHLORINE-FREE (ACID-FREE) HEAVY MUSEUM QUALITY 280gsm PAPER.

SIZE: THE IMAGE SIZE IS THE SAME AS THE 1968 ORIGINAL -20”x30” –WITH A WHITE MARGIN ADDED TO MAKE THE PRINT MORE SUITABLE FOR FRAMING WITHOUT LOSS OF IMAGE AREA.  TOTAL PRINT SIZE: A1 =23.39”x16.54” (594mm x420mm)

 

THIS PRINT IS AN EXACT SAME-SIZE FACSIMILE PRINTED TWO-COLOUR SILKSCREEN – AS WAS THE ORIGINAL. THE THIRD COLOUR, YELLOW, IS ADDED BY HAND BY THE ARTIST.

   ‘At the time, back in 1968, it was prohibitively expensive to add the third colour, yellow, so I added it by hand on each and every one of that first print run copies. It is only correct that I should do the same for this important edition.

The original posters were printed on the cheapest paper –this was all I could afford –and once they were fly-posted they lasted about a week before they were removed, or fell apart. For this very special limited, signed edition, I wanted the paper and inks to be the best available, using acid-free paper and inks made to last’.

-Jim FitzPatrick. Artist.

THIS ORIGINAL CHE GUEVARA PRINT IS SIGNED AND NUMBERED BY THE ARTIST IN A LIMITED EDITION OF ONLY 995 COPIES.

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IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH YOUR PRINT YOU WILL BE FULLY REINBURSED -YOUR MONEY RETURNED -PROVIDED THE PRINT IS RETURNED UNDAMAGED WITHIN A PERIOD OF 90 DAYS

This is a unique opportunity to own one of the most iconic images of all time.

You know the Che image from all the T-shirts, posters, album covers, and Warhol prints. All of these are derived from my own original 1968 Viva Che poster.

For the first time, I have made a limited edition print run. These prints are exact facsimiles of my original 1968 Viva Chs poster art. It is printed in the same manner as the original, old-fashioned silk screen printing with two colors, the red and the black with the yellow colored by me by hand as it was in the original.

This is a signed and numbered limited edition run of 995.

A little history!

The art of Jim Fitzpatrick has never been less than controversial. His earliest work, the legendary Che Guevara poster of May 1968 published just after his death in Bolivia, became the iconic image of the anti-Vietnam war protests worldwide and today is the symbol of F.A.R.C. in Columbia and the Zapatistas of Mexico in their fight for freedom and autonomy.

“It’s an odd world.” says the artist, “The Che Guevara poster became a worldwide phenomenon and caused outrage everywhere it appeared. Because the various posters of Che I produced were based on a photograph by a then-unknown Cuban photographer plus the fact that I had met him (see Biography section ), idolized him and of course, wanted to make sure he was never forgotten I made all the Guevara images copyright free. That’s how it spread everywhere so quickly.

The reaction was extraordinary. The original poster art and an oil painting I intended using as a print went on tour after being exhibited in the Lisson Gallery in London and guess what? -they both ‘disappeared’ in Eastern Europe where an individualistic idealist like Che was anathema to their corrupt regimes. Reaction in the west was about the same: my distributor in Spain was actually arrested by Franco’s secret police!

But Ireland was the weirdest: Every shop that stocked the poster was threatened or harassed: in the very fashionable Brown Thomas of Grafton Street, which sold cards and posters in those faraway days, a well-turned out lady bought the entire stock, tore them all to pieces in front of the astonished staff and walked out ! I remember the late Ms. O’Flaherty and Ms. King of Parsons Bookshop on Baggot Street bridge, who were great supporters of my art -as they were of every artist and writer in Dublin – getting really upset at the hostility directed towards the poster, which hung proudly in their front window. Despite threats to break their windows they refused to take it down and I was so proud every time I passed that little shop run by two most educated, kind and charming Dubliners who devoted their lives to the artists and writers of this city. “

Jim FitzPatrick 2012